


New kids on the Block

by Serrenedy



Series: Evilly good [2]
Category: Descendants (2015)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2018-08-11 11:26:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 36,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7889854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serrenedy/pseuds/Serrenedy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So...this has been a year in the making...I got distracted. Sorry. The good news is, Me and the other 2 writers have mostly hashed out this plot. We just have to decide the order we're going in, surprisingly easy, and if I actually write, and if my computer doesn't blow up again, you guys should be getting semi regular updates. I'll try to update once a month at least. Possibly more than that. Please leave comments or kudos or tell me if I'm doing something wrong. Also, please bear in mind, that NONE of us have read the books and that we all hate wicked world. The OCs you see are all ours and we hope you'll like them as much as you like the regular characters.</p></blockquote>





	1. A Pity Party

As it turned out, it was a very good thing Jafar did not go back to the isle of the lost. For once, Ben received a letter shortly after returning the students to the school from Sultana Jasmine. There was something wrong with the magic carpet, maybe age, and they were going to take a little longer than expected but they should arrive by the party. That was another thing. The party. Maleficent hadn’t been kidding when she promised to invite everyone. Most of the people attending were doing so in fear that she’d be offended if they didn’t show. Others had been wise enough to send letters regretting that they could not attend. It seemed to have worked as she was still calm…or so they were forced to assume. The dark fairy herself hadn’t been seen in days and had actually kidnapped the other villains. It wasn’t very hard to figure out where they were. The Moorlands had been sparking with magic ever since the fairy had vanished with the ownership papers.

          “I for one” Jay said, grinning widely. “Can’t _wait_ for Mal’s birthday. Queen Maleficent always goes all out and it’s literally the highlight of the year on the isle.” There was another crack of thunder. “ _Most_ of the isle.” Mal groaned, her head on the lunch table. Jay pat her shoulder consolingly. “On the plus side, after your birthday you have a whole year before the circus again.”

          “Thank Evil” Mal groaned out. No matter how hard she tried to smile around her mother it couldn’t be more obvious that she absolutely _hated_ parties and her birthday by extension. “The only decent things about my parties are Mim, and he’s not going to even be there.” She groaned again, she seemed to make that noise a lot.

          “Well I will try my hardest to make sure whatever Mim could do I’ll do.” Internally Ben added the name to the list of kids that were coming next. “Is Mim another ex?” He asked fearfully. Mal snorted.

          “That…” She burst into laughter. It took about a minute for her to calm enough to wipe the tears from her eyes and stop. To make things better, the question had distracted her enough that her cloud cleared away. “No, Oh wow. No, I’m not that…No. Mim runs the parties on the isle. He is without a doubt, the best dj ever. He can make anyone dance.” She snorted again and let out another chuckle at the idea of them dating. That was an idea, but no.

          “OH!” Ben’s eyes widened and then he instantly felt bad. So this ‘Fabian’ guy was her ex. That didn’t make every single guy from the isle her ex. He’d asked before if Carlos was an ex and that had made the small boy practically glow red before Mal, Jay, _and_ Evie had burst into laughter while Carlos spluttered out something about being interested in someone else. “I understand. Well, I’m sure I can find a pretty good dj.” This caused another round of giggles around the table. Even if they were laughing _at_ him, he was glad he was able to diffuse the tension somewhat. It was Saturday morning. Mal was leaving in about an hour to go to her new kingdom and get ready for her party tomorrow. All attempts to contact Maleficent let alone try and get the party pushed back were doomed from the start. She sent most letters back with the word ‘Busy’ in capital letters. No doubt she wasn’t even reading the regret filled letters of non-attendance. Ben doubted she very much cared. Ben was staring at his friends bemused and they were laughing. That way, no one noticed the glowing green orb that darted to float at the table.

          “MAL” Everyone jumped back as the Empress of Evil herself showed up literally _on_ the table where they’d been sitting.

          “Mom” Mal was the first to ‘recover’, near hyperventilating. “I…I thought you were coming in another hour?!” Maleficent waved that off like it was nothing. “I was, but it’s your party! Literally, you have twenty nine hours of still being fifteen! I mean, I’ve got to spend _some_ time with fifteen year old you, you were away in _Auradon_ the whole time.” Maleficent gasped and literally _pulled_ Mal up and into a hug. “I missed a whole year of your life!” She gasped. “I gave you a fifteenth birthday and in two and a half months you were gone!” She hugged Mal tighter if possible. “Well, we just have to fix that now don’t we? You are going to _love_ home. Evelin decorated your room and Jafar helped with the party and Cruella has been working nonstop on your dress and we are going to bond with a spa day!” As Maleficent spoke, getting more and more visibly excited she started to fade into green smoke, Mal with her. Then the two of them were just…gone.

          “Mal is going to _hate_ the next twenty nine hours” Jay said almost sagely. Evie and Carlos could do nothing but nod in agreement. Ben stood up and gave a mild excuse as to where he was going. The villain kids weren’t that stupid. He was currently panicking as to how Maleficent was easily able to come into the school and, should she want, destroy it along with everyone inside.

          “How long until you think he realizes that attempting to Maleficent proof the school a useless venture?” Evie asked. The two of them looked at Jay, who shrugged.

          “Just because I hang out with the guy sometimes doesn’t mean I know how he runs bets.” Jay grumbled.

          “What about how she runs bets?” Carlos asked. Jay snorted.

          “I play parts for her, that’s about it.” He shrugged.

          “Well we don’t have anything to bet” Evie pointed out. “We can’t steal any valuables to bet with otherwise Ben will get mad and there’s no point in betting food when we can just get more of it.” The three nodded and went back to their interrupted lunch.

 

Yesterday Ben had freaked out and gone to the Fairy Godmother to try and Maleficent proof the castle. Today he was pulling at the collar of one of his more uncomfortable starched suits. He looked across the carriage to his father, who was taking deep breaths as he tried not to beast out, and his mother, who was fixing her hair in her hand mirror. She was trying out a traditional fairy hairstyle. The thin braids went down one side of her face and were pinned halfway up a quarter inch in. She’d had to do the simple style several times. If the braids were too large or too many it would be a very big insult. It was an attempt to try and calm Maleficent before there were even any problems. It was a near guarantee that there would be problems. Maleficent had invited Queen Leah. Whether it was to prove you should invite everyone or whatever the reason, Audrey had also left early to get ready for the party. She was not only going, her mother and grandmother would also be in attendance. This was going to be a disaster and he wished, not for the first time that he was in one of the carriages with the students from the school. The party was also a bad idea. Mal didn’t know most of the other students. She kind of stuck with the other villain kids, maybe that was his fault. He’d assumed they’d want some familiar faces so they only had one class without at least one other villain kid in it. Actually come to think of it, none of the villains had made friends besides him, Doug, and…was Jane a friend? He didn’t know if they considered her one. It had also taken them a few months to even use the word ‘friend’. He needed to split them up…but not too much or they might panic. He was so far in his head he didn’t notice when the carriage stopped until his mother coughed politely. His head swiveled around to her.

          “Benjamin, is there something wrong?” She asked gently. Ben was, by nature, an absolutely terrible liar.

“No” His voice squeaked and his nails got a bit sharper. “I was…um…thinking” Belle eyed the nails as they returned to normal, then hummed beneath her breath. There was something wrong, but he’d also been thinking. A half-truth. She let it go for now, but she had been thinking for a while now. She could see plenty of problems with his half-baked plan. Luckily, she was also smart enough to fix most of them before he even realized there were problems.

“Well, the party’s not inside the carriage” She smiled brightly. Adam grumbled something under his breath, but she gently pulled her husband out of the carriage. Adam was…well, he hadn’t realized when he sent people to the isle that children were even a possibility. When he’d first heard about them, it was via Ben announcing his plan to make the isle obsolete. On the one hand, he never wanted to hurt children…on the other, even beasts could be scared, and he was terrified of an island full of revenge filled children that he would feel bad about punishing or even really stopping. It was a mess and Belle was the only thing keeping him from a breakdown right now. Ben’s birthday wish was quickly becoming his biggest regret.

“Queen Belle! How wonderful to see you” Maleficent at the least, was happy. She stood there in a flowing gown. The high collar started as sky blue until the middle of her bodice. The blue then started to quickly fade until it was a deep mahogany around the waist and the quick fade repeated so that it ended in forest green from her knees down. “I love your hair” The Empress added. It was apparent that the horns on her helmet were to protect her actual horns, spiraling out brown rather than black. Her own hair was pulled into a circlet of sorts via an intricate network of thin braids. The rest of her hair fell in waves over her shoulders and to her waist. “May the peace of trees grant you their arms.” Maleficent said with a small smirk as she nodded to Belle. It took Belle a moment.

“May the stream…” She took a deep breath as she noted the amusement in the fairy’s gaze. “May your _life_ reflect the stream.” Maleficent was actually smiling now, obviously impressed. Belle had her own half smile as she ducked her own head. It was such a good thing she enjoyed research as much as she did. Maleficent greeted Adam and Ben without the flair, but she’d already taken the precaution to warn her family that Fey in general were matriarchal and that Maleficent’s species did not actually have males to have a code of respect for them. She’d been acting human because she’d been in their kingdom. In her own, she could have treated them like furniture if it so pleased her. Belle picked a seat to watch the festivities. Adam followed her around like a puppy. To be fair, she was one of eight people not panicking.

“This place is creepy” Ben admitted to Carlos. The white haired boy turned to look at him as he noticed how out of place Ben looked and most likely felt. Those who did _not_ know what to expect had worn formal clothing by Auradon standards. _He_ was wearing a white tunic over loose fitting black pants. Red flowers had also been woven into his hair and odd markings in red makeup were around his eyes and mouth.

“Um…” Carlos looked around. The Moorlands were a large and imposing forest. Most of the trees had no leaves on them and were blackened. The treetops curved oddly to allow the few patches of muted sunlight to hit the ground. There were patches of thorns that shot out of the ground and a few bushes either smoking or filled with green fire. The fire wasn’t harming the plants, actually it was healing then, but Ben wouldn’t know that. To be perfectly fair, it actually made Carlos a bit homesick. But he could see where Ben was coming from. “If you aren’t used to it I guess.” He admitted. He continued eating the…well, he didn’t know what it was-some fairy fruit, but it tasted good and so it was going in his mouth.

“This makes you think of _home_?” Carlos’ shrug and the honest nod of his head was officially the most horrific thing Ben had ever learned about the isle. He had wanted to go but he suddenly felt very lucky that his dad had flatly refused on that. “Where is Mal?” He asked, noting that he didn’t see purple hair anywhere.

“Inside the castle probably” Ben jumped about a foot. He didn’t notice Jay standing right behind him and casually winding an arm around his waist to get to the food on the table. He jumped away from Jay and practically into Carlos as the two snickered at him.

“I don’t see a castle” Ben said after surveying the area for a bit. Jay scoffed. He was in a tunic similar to Carlos’, only his had a high collar and no sleeves. He gently moved Ben’s head until he was looking at… “That’s a _castle_?!” Jay shrugged.

“Dude, Dark Fairies, remember?” Ben remembered, it didn’t help him at all looking at the towering mass a bit away from the actual party. If he used his imagination it could almost seem like a building…he supposed. The gnarled saplings all grew together save for one spot where the branches curved and wove together that he realized was an arch that he supposed was the entrance, but it was at least six feet off of the ground. There was another level of contorted trees, only this one seemed to be wrapped fully with thick vines. There were thorns on the vines and a sharper set that grew straight into the sky. All in all, the structure was at least fifty feet tall, but it didn’t exactly scream ‘building’ let alone home. “She’ll be there until the last guests arrive” Jay revealed. “That’s how it always goes.”

“Where’s Evie?” Ben asked.

“Most likely with Mal calming her down from a panic attack.” Jay said solemnly. “She really doesn’t like being the center of attention, especially with people she doesn’t know that well.” Ben frowned again.

“Why wouldn’t Maleficent just change the date to after more of her friends were here? I mean, that whole group was full of her friends right?” Jay looked uncomfortable for a moment. He looked to Carlos, as if the other might help him, but Carlos distanced himself from the conversation by shoving something else into his mouth. Jay sighed

“Well…yes and no I guess? That group is made of four of the least harmless people on the isle. Like…John will only bother you if you bother his family. Veronica only gets bothered if you try to hurt her pets. Geneviève will do whatever she’s bet to so all you have to do is bet her she can’t hurt anyone. Besides, there’s bigger fish to fry with Viv than her trying to hurt anyone. And Fabian…well, he’s harmless but Fiona…” Jay got quiet then, a look of almost fear flashed across his face. “Dude, just don’t mess with Fiona. You’re not going to like what happens. She’s deadly and unstable and has even less of a moral code than most of us and when she gets here” He gave a breathless chuckle. “Carlos can tell you more, he dated her.” With that Jay turned on his heal and practically ran away from the conversation. Ben turned to Carlos.

“Fiona?” He asked.

“Fabian’s crazy sister” Carlos shuddered. “She holds the title of the most dangerous person on the isle. Not the most dangerous kid mind you, most dangerous _person_. She’s got full control of her magic and when she gets mad at you figure it out so you have enough time to get _out of dodge_.” With that, Carlos ran off as well. Fiona Facilier was dangerous. All right, one of the last ones to be brought over then. There was a horribly loud crack of thunder so hard that it made the earth shake. Everyone looked up to the smiling Maleficent, who had a glass in one hand and a slightly smoking knife in the other. She delicately tapped the knife to the glass again, and this time everyone could hear it.

“HELLO EVERYONE” She called. “NOW THAT THE LAST GUESTS HAVE ARRIVED” She gestured to Sultana Jasmine who was there with her husband and a young woman “I HAVE THE PLEASURE AND HONOR TO INTRODUCE THE PRINCESS OF THE MOORLANDS. MY DAUGHTER.” She paused to wipe away a tear. “ALL BOW YOUR HEADS FOR PRINCESS MALIGNANCE!” Everyone did…well, almost everyone. Audrey and her grandmother had their heads held high, but Aurora was kind enough to give the girl the proper respect. Maleficent was so happy that she was able to send a genuine looking smile to the Leian royal family, no doubt letting the actions of the family be dictated by Aurora rather than the other two. Mal was guided down by Evie and a smiling man that Ben had never seen before. He was undoubtedly supposed to be on the Side Evie stood, but his arm was in a sling. Evie was in a sundress of all things. Ben was mildly upset that his mother hadn’t allowed him to wear his normal suit rather than the formal one. Mal was slightly hiding behind the man who might have been her father. He whispered something into her ear and she allowed Evie to pull her out, drawing the attention of every party guest to her.

 

* * *

 

Mal wore a sweeping dress of forest green accented with lilac. She was obviously uncomfortable as she forced herself to stand ramrod straight rather than curl away like she wanted to. Her face was clean of makeup and Ben hadn’t realized how much she wore until that moment. Not that she looked bad without it, she just looked human with it. Like her mother her cheekbones were firmly pronounced, sharp enough to cut diamonds. Her eyes were a bit smaller than a human’s as well, with a natural and almost animal tilt to them. Her face in its entirety was sharp and angled. With her long purple hair out of the pins used to make it seem shorter, it hung to the small of her back. Without it blow-dried it fell in soft waves. The two braids caught her hair on either side and pulled it out of her face. Ben felt his heart skip a beat…or three. She caught his eyes and her terrified expression melted into something that almost resembled calm. Evie whispered something to her and Mal took a deep as she took a step off the platform. She was going to fall! Or…or not. As soon as she took a step a large thorn grew out from the tree and caught her. On the next step, a branch nearly broke itself to go beneath her feet. Then a vine, two thorns and so on until she was standing firmly on the ground. Evie and the mystery man had followed behind her, the vegetation returning to normal as soon as there was no weight on it. Maleficent couldn’t look happier as her daughter stood there.

 

* * *

 

         

          “Now” She had to take a moment, her throat had closed and she was moments from crying. The man looked up as the sun started to dip beneath the tree line. His eyebrows furrowed for a moment

          “NOW” He announced, “PRINCESS MAL WILL TOUCH THE CERIMONIAL TREE AND ACCEPT BOTH HER CROWN AND HER FULL POWERS!” The villains, save Maleficent, who was crying, and the man, who was gesturing to the tree, began to clap, which was everyone else’s cue to clap as well…again, almost everyone. Queen Leah glared at the display and loudly coughed to stop Audrey once the young woman had started to clap out of politeness. The ceremonial tree was too large for three people holding hands to wrap their arms around it and it was so tall that not even where the branches started be seen. Mal took a deep breath and started to walk…slowly.

          “I don’t think she’s ready” Carlos commented. Ben had to restrain himself from jumping as he hadn’t realized the younger boy had come back.

          “Definitely not” Jay agreed. Ben looked up again. Mal did look _very_ uncomfortable. In fact, it looked like she might start crying. She made it about halfway to the tree before she stopped and turned around.

          “Mom?” Maleficent was at her side instantly, able to hear the quiet mewl easily in the dead silence.

          “Sweetie what’s the matter?” Mal took another glance at Ben. Maleficent followed her gaze but snapped her attention back to her daughter when she heard the girl take a deep breath.

          “I…I really don’t want to do this. I mean…I…I don’t really want” Maleficent was distracted again, this time by the swiftly setting sun.

          “We can have this conversation after your coronation.” The dark fairy said firmly.

          “But _mom_ ”

          “No buts” Maleficent said harshly. Mal flinched and Maleficent took a deep breath. “I don’t know or care what that boy said to you but you are touching the tree” She looked up as the sky darkened. “Before sunset” She added.

          “Mom I don’t want to be evil!” Mal protested. Maleficent huffed.

          “MAL” The girl flinched again. “We can have this conversation after your coronation. That is final.” With that said, Maleficent pushed her daughter to make her began walking again. Mal completed the walk, a few tears actually falling. Maleficent was willingly oblivious to her daughter’s tears. Mal started to slowly lift her hand to touch the tree as the last rays of sunlight started to fade. She suddenly screamed in pain. Maleficent watched with her breath held as Mal stumbled forward. There was a large crack and then a purple wave of magic went out and Mal was gone.

          “Where?” Ben started. His question was cut off by a scream from Maleficent. The party had looked dangerous. The guests quickly learned the difference between looking dangerous and _being_ dangerous. Thorns shot out of the ground. They either trapped people or backed them into one of the knotted trees, which wrapped their arms around victims. The few that were free from thorns and trees were swiftly captured by vines. Maleficent hadn’t stopped screaming as her face and body contorted. Her jaw elongated and slightly detached as it filled with rows of razor sharp teeth. A pair of leathery black wings sprouted from her back. Her hands morphed into claws at least a foot long. Scales were crawling up her arms and around her now slit eyes. Her scream cumulated in a burst of green flame that erupted from her throat. With two flaps of her wings, which were about three times the size she was, she was in front of Adam, green energy crackling around her.

          “YOU!” Her voice was barely even something that resembled human. It was a wonder the words were understandable through the roar in the back of her throat. “YOU KILLED MY DAUGHTER!”


	2. The Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...this has been a year in the making...I got distracted. Sorry. The good news is, Me and the other 2 writers have mostly hashed out this plot. We just have to decide the order we're going in, surprisingly easy, and if I actually write, and if my computer doesn't blow up again, you guys should be getting semi regular updates. I'll try to update once a month at least. Possibly more than that. Please leave comments or kudos or tell me if I'm doing something wrong. Also, please bear in mind, that NONE of us have read the books and that we all hate wicked world. The OCs you see are all ours and we hope you'll like them as much as you like the regular characters.

       “Mom?” Never before had King Adam been so happy to hear the voice of a villain or one of their children. As it was, a second later and he’d have been burned to a crisp. Belle had been watching with tears in her eyes, nearly hyperventilating. Ben was still across the way with his friends. Jay and Carlos had looked shocked, but not much else. “Mom!?” Mal’s voice was echoing and bounced around. It seemingly came from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

       “Mal?” Maleficent had been steady turning back into her more human form since her daughter’s voice had been heard.

       “Mom” Mal’s voice echoed again, sounding frustrated and frantic. ”I can’t…I don’t know what happened. I would… _like_ my body back?” Maleficent started laughing. It was just a bit maniacal and filled with relief. The moors lets everyone go as Maleficent continued laughing. “Mom?” Mal’s voice was still confused.

       “Are you in the tree?” Maleficent asked, calm once more.

       “I…guess?” Maleficent nodded indulgently. Adam was half beast once again. Belle had rushed to his side the instant she was able, trying to calm him. He may have been upset, but attacking _Maleficent_ of all people was a horrid idea, especially in her own kingdom. Auradon needed a war with Maleficent like it needed to be wiped off of the map, which was what would most likely happen.

       “Um…Maleficent? Empress?”  She turned to look at Ben, who’s quite call had been heard in the near silence. “Did you say killed?”  Maleficent smiled, a bit tightly.

       “Let’s go get her out of the tree shall we?” She said instead of answering his question. She crossed to the tree. Without her wings the walk took a few minutes even though she was rushing. Adam managed to drag himself back under control as she reached the tree. Then, to the surprise of everyone, she placed her hands on the tree and…the best way to describe would be to say she _sank_ into it. The tree didn’t even morph to accept her. There was no burst of magic. Nothing. She just…slowly sank into it, leaning into the tree as it were made of gelatin and vanishing into it.

The party should have gone back to normal. There were a few hero kids that were trying the odd fairy food, a few that were trying to figure out what had just happened. Not Ben…Jay , Carlos and Evie stood stock still. They all stared at the tree. Maleficent’s anger was completely justified when she sad ‘killed’…the question was…why did she think Mal was dead in the first place?

 

* * *

 

 

It took almost a half hour. Diaval was frustratingly tight lipped to all questions asked about what had just happened. Evie, Jay, and Carlos had no information at all. After half an hour there was a shimmering on the side of the tree.  Out from the shimmers came a figure. She moved gracefully, the type of grace that was natural rather than learned.  She also moved on her toes as they had elongated into talons. It was Mal. On top of her new angled face, there were a few green scales under her eyes. There were purple scales on her temples. The strangest new change, the horns that spiraled up out of her hair, brown like her mothers. There were large purple wings on her back, leathery and lovely, but even as they opened, they folded down and into her back. She lost about six inches and went back to her normal height as her talons turned back into feet.

       “Wow” Mal stood there, staring at her hands now that she knew what they could do. Swirls of magic, purple, black, green, and every other color the world had to offer rose in wisps from the hands she was studying. She blinked after a while. “Mom?” Maleficent rushed to her side at the call, she didn’t look any different then she had when the party started. “I heard you say killed” Mal started

      “GIFTS!” Maleficent’s voice was a screech. Well, apparently she didn’t want to talk about that.

       “Mom” Mal’s voice held a warning. Maleficent’s face fell into an almost pout.

       “Don’t you want t just get on with the party? Not worry about silly little things that didn’t happen?” She was hopeful…trying…failing.

       “Mom, you attacked…you said he ‘killed’ me. What did you mean by that?” Maleficent bit her lip.

       “Wouldn’t you rather just open presents?” Maleficent tried one last time. Mal’s eyes turned green with her magic.

       “Mom” She said seriously. Maleficent sighed heavily.

       “It’s your birthday.” At Mal’s unimpressed face she continued. Everyone was gathering to better hear the explanation. “Sixteen is a very important year. For our spells, they have to be cast before a person hits sixteen if you want them to be permanent. Well…most spells…curses at least. They have to be broken before the sun rises on the first day after the sixteenth birthday. Sixteen if very important… and for fairies…sixteen is when you get your full powers. Now, for _most_ fairies this is a good thing. Wonderful in fact. A few of them have…issues. I myself had issues.” Maleficent bit her lip. “I started this wrong. I should have explained how magic works for fairies.”

       “It connects to our emotions” Mal said impatiently. “The stronger the emotion the more powerful the spell. What does that have to do with that whole ‘kill’ thing?” Maleficent took a shaky breath.

       “ The tree you touched is very important. It connects to the entire Moorlands. It helps with focus in younger fairies. It takes magic and stores it in the earth itself, the biggest conductor there is. It’s why we’re so connected to this place.” As she spoke Mal looked around. With hardly a thought about wanting to sit, a torn bush grew from the ground and arranged itself into a chair for her.  “I’m very old, “ Maleficent continued. “I’ve learned to  control it. Younger fairies like you need to touch the tree once a year to avoid…excess…”

       “Excess?” Mal asked. Maleficent clenched her jaw tightly.

       “Mal…you were made with a spell that…that magical creatures use when they want children but do not have the time or recourses to have them. You are made of magic and D.N.A. both fairy and human.” Janet Fair gasped at that. It was apparently important because she grabbed Jane and held her close for a moment.

       “Yeah…I’m a half fairy…what does that have to do with anything?” Mal asked.

       “You were wrong” Maleficent said simply. ”It’s not the spell…it’s magic…in general. The stronger the emotion, the stronger the _magic_.” Mal nodded along slowly.

       “Mom…I’m not getting this…can you just…just come out and say it?” Maleficent swallowed hard.

       “Mal…if you hadn’t sheared off the excess magic in your body…” She took a deep breath. “Do you know what the biggest difference is between Half and full fairies?” 

       “Hearts” Mal rolled her eyes. “Fairies have really small hearts. They can only feel one at most two emotions at a time. You were really powerful because you can feel three at a time and I have the emotional capacity of my human half. Mom what does that have to do with me…” She stopped suddenly, understanding. If Maleficent had three and needed to shear off the extra…Mal, with her full range.

       “It was why I always said when I get off the isle I was going to destroy Auradon. The sunset of your sixteenth birthday you would have exploded into a magical shockwave so powerful it would have ripped the barrier apart.” Maleficent said slowly.  Mal placed a hand over her heart, eyes wide in horror. She couldn’t breathe. The only ones that didn’t look floored by the news were Jafar, Cruella, Evelyn, Diaval and Maleficent herself.

       “I…I was dying?”

       “If I’d paved over this place she’d be getting a taste of her own medicine” Leah hissed to herself. Unfortunately, in the horrified silence Maleficent was able to hear her perfectly well.

       “I could have” She started, a bit louder and with bitterness infused into her voice. “Let you be raised by _strangers_ for sixteen years trying to avoid a fate which I wouldn’t know even could be avoided or not, but I think I did something _better.”_ She turned back to her daughter, a gentle smile on her face. “I made Allies. I’ve never been able to stand Evelyn but you looked at her daughter with stars in your eyes. You were so excited to see Carlos, you gushed about the boy that was almost as good a thief as you. So I spoke to their parents. I made a few deals. I worked some magic.” She shrugged. “I got you the best leather for that jacket of yours. The one you like so much. Always threw you the best parties I could.” Maleficent reached forward and grabbed a shell shocked Mal into a hug. The half-fairy had started to cry silently. “I knew your days were numbered…so I made every _instant_ the best I could” Maleficent said gently. No one was really surprised when the sun shower started.

 

* * *

 

 

       “The timing is purely traditional. Granted, most fairies don’t have your unique issues. I should have put more thought into that.” Mal gave a choked sob, hugging her mother closer. “But presents, first spell, there’s so much to do!” She gushed, holding close her daughter. “Diaval and I got you joint gifts!”

       Adam’s heart lodged in his throat. He almost…killed a child? That…a bubble of dread welled up inside of him as his stomach dropped. There were no other cases like that on the isle were there? No…NO! Maleficent was the only fairy sent…he was pretty sure of that. It was a disturbing thought, that he almost killed a child.

        “Your mother ordered me to find the thing she knew would go with her gift.” The man said. That was odd. He had the same name as her crow…and he was wearing a cloak and pants made of black feathers.

       “I had to sneak this off of the isle.” Maleficent revealed. “It didn’t have any power until we got here so I could charge it. That’s what I’ve been doing this whole time.” She snapped and the man ran off, back inside the castle. Again, the vegetation provided stairs. “I do hope you’ll like it.” She smiled. “My gift first, his last. Just in case you change your mind about it. Have you thought of your first spell?’ She asked. Mal opened her mouth, ready to say something, when she was distracted. Maleficent joined her daughter’s gaze.

       “Horrible thing to think” Aurora chided her mother.

       “Well I’m right, rather than deal with that _thing_ she and that horrible creature from which she was spawned wouldn’t be our problem anymore.”

       “Mother you can’t mean that!” Aurora gasped.

      “And then she managed to spell Ben all the way from the isle so that he’d bring her and her little monster over.”

       “Mother”

       "Mal did spell Benny boo” Audrey defended her grandmother. 

 

* * *

 

 

Mal’s eyes narrowed.  Maleficent growled. Well, the spell wouldn’t be permanent. Not after the target was sixteen. Audrey was already over sixteen. She’d had her sweet sixteen a few months ago. This would be fun. “Mom…I think I have something. “ A harmless little spell and what’s more, it would be evil enough to satisfy her mother and still a good thing. After all, Leian was right next to the Moorlands. If they didn’t want a war…a one sided massacre, they needed this. The thoughts were mostly for Mal’s conscious, the stupid thing had grown out of nowhere upon being on Auradon for longer than a month. But it was still true. It would be fun, and harmless.

 

* * *

 

 

       “So, I’ve decided” Mal said loudly, the party guests all stared at her…mostly because she was staring directly at Audrey.  “What my first spell is going to be. I am going to repay the kindness Queen Leah gave to me and my mother with a _blessing_.”  Leah looked furious. “To _Aurdey”_ Mal finished. Leah gasped, hiding her only granddaughter behind her.

       “Not without this ya don’t.” Mal looked over to where Diaval was running back. “Your first gift, from your mother my dear.” He bowed as he presented her with…

       “Mom…is that…your power staff?” Mal asked. Maleficent scoffed.

       “As if I’d ever give you a thing like that.” She shook her head. “This is yours”  Mal’s jaw dropped.

 

* * *

 

 

The staff looked almost exactly like her mother’s, down to the swirling ball of green energy on top. That changed when she touched it. When she touched it the staff jerked in her hand, almost like a snake. It lengthened, towering over Mal’s head. The wood blackened and strange cracks appeared. Behind the cracks kaleidoscope colors could be seen, glowing faintly. The orb of swirling magic turned purple and wispy, losing its orb nature to float around the staff gently. Mal looked at her new staff in wonder.

 

* * *

 

 

       “Mother!”

       “I WON’T ALLOW IT!” Leah screeched. “Bad enough that _thing_ cursed you! Now she wants my granddaughter!” Aurora was currently pulling Audrey away from an Irate Queen Leah.

       “Mother I trust her.”

       “Your judgment is not to be trusted! You’ve been spelled by that Monster! You can’t trust any of _their kind_ ” That was just Aurora needed to hear. She dragged Audrey forward, keeping her mother at bay.

       “I trust them” Aurora grit out. Mal frowned lightly. She reworded the spell in her head as Audrey got pushed forward.

 

 

* * *

 

 

_Audrey looked like she was going to cry. Mal positioned the staff in front of herself. The colors in the cracks all glow even brighter. The sky darkens with multicolored clouds. Mal took a deep breath. Audrey tried to run, but vines came and wrapped around her ankles. When Mal spoke, her voice echoed. As the spell continued the scales grew around her hands, arms, even down her throat. Her feet turned to talons once more and her fingers lengthened into claws._

**_ Deep as your hatred does go to your bones.  _ **

**_ Your form reflect your voice intones.  _ **

**_ Treat others as they would to you.  _ **

**_ With this new truth you have to.  _ **

**_ No difference seen, no difference know. _ **

**_  Blood bound till your true feelings show.  _ **

**_ Your mind does make your actions twist.  _ **

**_ Now your mindfulness will assist.  _ **

**_ Until your mind is and heart are pure.  _ **

**_ The purest form you will endure.   
This knowledge weighs beneath your skin _ **

**_ No longer doubt can hide within. _ **

**_  The inside of your blood’s pure form _ **

**_ No longer let lies be your norm _ **

**__ **

The multicolored clouds flashed. Lightning, ranging from fire hot to ice cold and in ever-changing colors crashed to the ground. The mist on the staff swirled out into a whirlwind of lavender as the colors flashed before becoming a brilliant and blinding pure white. For a moment, no one could see anything. The spell was beyond powerful. It shot out and when the smoke cleared, Audrey was…floating?

 

* * *

 

 

Yes…floating. She hovered off of the ground, seemingly unconscious for a moment. Mal gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. Audrey was…

          “I _swear_ I didn’t mean to do that!” Mal gasped. Maleficent blinked at the woman. Aroura was…confused seemed to be the best word for it. Leah was already going off. She was screaming and wailing about a fate worse than death. “I…Mom how did _that_ happen? How long will it last?” Maleficent narrowed her eyes to stare at the young woman.

          “Mal dear, what exactly were you trying to do?”

          “Okay, honestly I was doing something worse but really funny I swear. I was trying to turn her inside out until she stopped pretending to hate villain kids. That’s all…that is **ALL** ” Maleficent quietly thought over her daughter’s spell.

          “Oh…Oh dear” A laugh bubbled out of the dark fairy. “You said ‘blood bound’. Oh that’s exquisite.” The laughter grew worse.  Maleficent smiled at the still prone girl, floating gently and spinning in a slow circle.  

          “But she’s already sixteen. So when is this going to wear off?”

          “Fifteen” Aurora said quietly from her corner.

       “What?” Mal’s heart dropped to her shoes.

       “She’s almost sixteen…she’s still fifteen for two months.”

       “But…But that’s impossible! She had a sweet sixteen I remember not getting an invitation.” Aurora pouted.

       “Well if you had an invitation, you would have seen it was her sweet fifteen and a half. She gets two birthdays a year. Actually, the invitations for her sixteenth haven’t gone out yet.” Mal blinked back tears.

       “Even if she were twenty this would be permanent.” Maleficent supplied helpfully. “Due to the wording she was unlocking the magic in her blood. Unlocking spells are always permanent.”

       “But she doesn’t HAVE any magic in her blood!” Leah protested. Maleficent barked out a laugh.

        “Aurora had a curse running through her system for sixteen years, plus three spells that influenced how she grew. She lived her life on the Moorlands. She spent _sixteen years_ soaking up enchantment from the ground she walked on to the air she breathed. While she’s certainly not at the level of a fairy, she has all the making for a decently powerful sorceress.”

        “That…doesn’t explain what happened to Audrey” Aurora said gently. While Leah was freaking out, Aurora seemed to be just…gently confused. It was clear her daughter wasn’t in any actual danger. So she wasn’t getting into arms about anything.

        “Location” Maleficent said simply. “Plus the fact that it was the first spell Mal cast with her full power. It was the most powerful spell she’ll ever cast. Her emotions made it even stronger, she seems to have an awful lot of anger to your daughter. Not to mention, her magic’s being strengthened with the staff. If not for those factors, Audrey would have been at your level. Just a weak witch. With the factors? Adding that she’s under sixteen and her powers hadn’t capped yet…” Maleficent let her sentence trail. “She’s a weaker breed. She’ll be able to hide it more easily than Mal.”

         ‘Urrrgghh” All eyes snapped to Audrey, slowly coming too. As she blearily blinked herself awake she fell to the ground.  Mal hid behind her mother. Aurora went to her daughter’s side as Leah recoiled like Audrey’s skin was made of poison.  “What…happened?” The princess asked as her mother helped her up.

          “The spell was…a bit stronger than intended” Aurora tried to break it gently. Maleficent was smirking. Not because she was evil…well, yes, she was evil and this was SUCH a satisfying revenge, but more just…it was funny. Audrey slowly put her hand to her throbbing head. Massaging at the base of her antenna made her headache subside a little bit and…antenna? The screaming did not start right away. Rather, Audrey dragged her hand along the highly sensitive stalk. It was unnaturally responsive and thicker than her hair besides. It twitched on its own… _then_ the screaming started. The screaming worsened when she tried to pull it out of her head and found out the hard way that it was attached to her scalp. She freaked out, trying to get away from the odd changes. In her twisting and turning, her enormous wings fluttered all the way open. She stood there screaming. Her eyes, skin, and hair had turned pink. Her face had changed, becoming fairy and angular. From out the small of her back rose gorgeous butterfly wings. As she freaked out on the enchanted ground the trees responded to her. Her magic seemed to be fundamentally different to Mal’s or Maleficent’s. The trees burst into flowers and the grass beneath her feet curled up lush and green. Still Audrey did not stop screaming. Mal…couldn’t really help the snickers…neither could Aurora.

         “The gift is…not well received, but I have no doubt that one day it will be appreciated” Aurora bowed lowly to Mal, thanking her. She then tried to hide her laughter behind her hand and went to…’comfort’ her daughter.


	3. Meet the problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? Another chapter? And so soon? Yup yup! I'm working on a system to try and get regular updates out. I want to hopefully update once a week and then this should be done by the time the 3rd movie rolls out. Part 2 and 3 are actually the shortest but they lead way to a lot of interesting things. I'll leave you to ponder that while I leave you with this chapter. Kudos and comments are my life blood. Thank you for reading, and please drop a reply to say if I'm doing too much or too little with the accents. Also yes, Everything Geneviève says can be accurately run through google translate. I hope you enjoy dears.

The weeks following the party were…strained, to say the least. Audrey decided not to go home for the break, which was…odd to say the least. She usually spent the summer horseback riding and sailing. But she stayed at school, miserable as the end of year preparations begin. There were a few kids that always stayed at school, like the Skelingtons. Jay and Jafar actually went to Agrabah for the summer. Apparently the woman that had come to the party with the Sultan and Sultana was named Sadira. She was Jafar’s replacement…not very good at her job…Ben had missed the conversation but apparently Jafar was getting his old job back. That was good.

 

* * *

 

 

In no time at all, there next boat had come to the docks. The welcoming crew was a bit…different. Jay being gone had upset the others. Apparently he was supposed to run ‘interference’ on Fabien. Ben wasn’t worried. He was sure he could handle it. He stood there, an arm around Mal’s waist. She seemed…irritated or nervous. Her face kept shifting as if trying to form a muzzle for her new sharper teeth.  Scales, iridescent purple, crawled up her arms. The ship stopped and the door opened. The guards around the group were there moistly for the adults. As it turned out, that was a good idea. An adult thundered out first…the adult no one wanted to see.

          “”For once!” Gaston’s voice fit his frame and personality. Even after all this time, Belle couldn’t help the sneer at the fact that the boisterous man _had_ to be the center of attention. “You did something almost decently. It doesn’t make up for the mess that is your life. You’ll never make up for being born even with something like this.” He continued. Though he was facing forward, he was talking to someone behind him. Of the four, the only that opted to bring their parents were Fabien and Genevieve. A limit had been placed of one parent, though Veronica’s paper indicated two pets. That had been interesting, both that she was able to fill out the paperwork and that she had pets. John was coming alone.

          “Soo, this is Ah-ra-don?” a deep voice drawled. He couldn’t really be seen, staying to the shadows was the tall figure who must have spoken. The boy more lurked by the ship’s entrance, not quite coming down yet. Ben was confused as to why, and clutched Mal a bit tighter.

          “It’s Gaston” She whispered to her boyfriend. “He just doesn’t want to be around Gaston.”

          “Belle!” The queen winced and found that she couldn’t blame the children for sticking to the ship. _She_ wanted to sprint to the ship and hide. She did the diplomatic thing and waved…he grabbed her hand and clutched it. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you should have the best! Me, why even a woman like yourself should have _some_ standards.”  Adam growled lowly.

          “Gaston” Maleficent stepped forward then. She didn’t still need to be in Auradon, she just wanted to see the new children. “They’ve arranged housing for you. The carriage should take you there.” He scowled at her and it seemed like there was going to be an argument about whether or not he should stay and harass Belle when she continued. “With a fully stocked bar.” That seemed to change his mind very quickly. He gave one last leer to Belle, she shuddered, and he went off to the golden carriage that would take him to his alcohol.

          “This is a terrible idea.” Adam whispered to his wife. “I don’t see how anything that man produced can be decent.”

          “Second chances” Belle reminded him. Maleficent waited until the carriage started before turning.

          “He’s gone” She called. The lurking boy was surprisingly, _not_ the first to step off of the boat. That honor was stolen by a young woman.

          “Au Revoir! Tu vas me manquer! Je t'aime Papa!” She called after the retreating carriage. She stood, held back by Maleficent’s mere presence as she continued to shout at the retreating carriage in French. She was tall, almost to Adam’s shoulder. She looked like the spitting image of her father, which caused both Adam and Belle to wince. One bright blue eye peered out of fair skin. As Veronica had indicated, half her face was covered by a heavy fringe. She had an almost shaggy side band and it was not helped by her long and thick curly hair that fell in waves to the small of her back. It was a wonder she could see right. She wore a puffy blood red leather vest with a few…it was painted to look like bullet holes almost, all over it. She wore black leather pants. Once she was done screaming to Gaston, she hugged Maleficent, still going off a mile a minute in French.

          “Little Miss MORON” A new voice called. He was on the ship, but not slinking into the shadows. He had a light British accent, the pale boy with shoulder length dark hair. He stood in, not red, but a dark olive green coat. His leather pants were purple. He slowly walked off the boat, as if checking that Gaston was really gone. When he confirmed that the man was nowhere to be found he sighed, relaxing and letting his oversized backpack hit the ground.

          “Je suis vraiment désolé. Je vais arrêter de parler maintenant” Geneviève said to the boy. With his completion and accent it would seem this was John before Fabien.

          “You know no one understands you” He deadpanned. Her face fell for a moment before the drawl from earlier came back.

          “She s-aid” He said as he came into the light “She’s sarry fer bein an id’yot.” He was wearing…a black suit…? With a purple cravat? His hat was black and purple, perched on the side of his head. He smoothed down his suit as he walked down. His gloves were also purple. He only used one hand as held in the other was a large black swan. His eyes were a light purple. “Rappelez-vous ce qui est important”

          “Which would be _what_ exactly?” Belle stepped forward as she asked. It was a good thing Belle had. It was Adam’s second language and…after twenty years he was more than a bit rusty. The idea of islanders communicating through something as simple as a different language hadn’t occurred to anyone. This was bad news.

          “Je suis désolé, madame. Je n'essaie pas d'être grossier. Nous sommes nouveau. Nous devrions entrer avant de nous distraire” Belle raised an eyebrow. The boy seemed to be a natural charmer. He even bowed and bestowed a gentle kiss to the back of her hand.

          “I’m going to assume you’re Fabian.” She narrowed her eyes, on edge because of what had happened before.

          “You would assume correctly mah Lady. You must be Queen Belle. Gah-ston always sp-eeks o ya beauty. Ah have to say, he doesn’t give ya enough credit.” The swan in his arms honked loudly. He frowned. “Well that depends on what you want to do” He said to it. The swan honked again, and he let it go.

          “You have a pet swan?” Belle asked, looking at the bird.

          “Nope” He said gently. She couldn’t help but wonder if it were the same sort of situation as the bird that Maleficent had…the one she turned into a man at random times.

          “Is your mother here?” Belle asked. Fabien smirked.

          “Nope” he answered again.

          “Where’s the other one?” Adam asked. Always thinking of the worst, he wouldn’t put it past the last villain child to go cause chaos while everyone thought she was just getting ready. But as he looked he saw that there was in fact a new girl there. She seemed to have a pulley system on her back to help her with her bags. She had two trunks attached to ropes which hung from her back and another in her arms. An odd looking thing, her skin tone was as if someone had dropped a single drop of purple food dye into a gallon of milk. It was the only hint of color on her, lavender underneath pure white skin. Her hair had the same treatment, highlights being a shock white and lowlights being a slightly darker purple. What was more, she was wearing a lavender…sheet? It looked like she’d tried to make a dress out of a sheet…or a sail as it was made of canvas. It was made extremely odd by the fact that she had on a light lavender leather vest. All in all, all of her clothes blended into her skin and hair and…she looked…kind of awful. That might be what Evie was talking to her about… _at_ her?

          “Brainless!” _Belle_ flinched at the name Evie called out. Geneviève didn’t seem to care, jogging over. She proved she was Gaston’s daughter then as she took the two trunks from the rope…tentacles…they receded back into the backpack on Veronica’s shoulders. She also took the trunk that had been in the smaller girl’s arms. “Thank you” Evie smiled. Geneviève nodded perkily and went to Mal.

          “Où est sa chambre?” Mal blinked at her. Carlos apparently spoke French because he jumped in front of Geneviève.

          “I’ll show you. I didn’t know she had all that stuff.”

          “Je pense que c'est surtout des livres” Carlos nodded. Veronica followed her trunks, giving Mal a small wave and Maleficent a bright smile.

          “Hello” John bowed his head to Ben. “Hi Mal.” He gave her a tight smile that…didn’t quite reach his eyes. She didn’t take any offence. He only ever really smiled around his sister. “Empress Maleficent” He gave her a popper bow from the waist. He turned his attention back to Ben.

          “Where’s Jay?” he asked. Ben blinked.

          “Ah, he’s in Agrabah for the summer. There was a situation that…Jafar is fixing right now.” John’s eyes narrowed, but he hummed thoughtfully. “No doubt he ran because he heard Geneviève was on her way.” Ben blinked.

          “Do they…not get along?” John snorted.

          “Jay owed her…he left without doing what he promised and he managed to cause more problems than previously thought possible by doing so.” Mal gasped as her eyes widened in terror.

          “The race” Apparently, that was what had been the problem. Ben didn’t understand it, but it made Mal worried. Before he could question it, they were interrupted by another voice.

          “Mal” Mal looked up at the dark skinned Facilier child. Ben, again, pulled her closer. Fabien looked at the possessive arm, then upat Ben. He stared directly into Ben’s eyes…then smirked. Ben felt a chill go down his spine. This kid meant business. “Ya mus’ be prrinn-cee Ben. Chaaamd’. Mah name is Fabien. Fabien Facilie’.”

          “I know who you are” Ben shot back. Mal raised her eyebrow at him. Fabien’s smirk widened.

          “Fun-eh. Whare I’m standin ya don’t seem ta now much o anythin.”

          “Fabien!” Fabian’s smirk didn’t vanish, but he did look over to John.

          “Ah had something impr’tant ta ask Mal.” John scowled, but Fabien looked back at her. “We gat offa the boat wit just enough time. Threee dahz time…” She blinked at him in confusion. “Full moon.” That seemed to be important because her eyes widened in understanding.

          “Evie!” She called the blue haired girl over. “Full moon. I need the room to be clear in three days.”

          “Are you sure that’s safe?”

          “More than the alternative”

          “But Mal what about”

          “I’ll fix them”

          “You most certainly will not!”

          “Would you prefer”

          “Why my”

           “That’s safer to”

          “What’s going on?”  Ben had been watching the two as if they were some sort of tennis match. His neck was getting tired of the back and forth and his head throbbed with thoughts of what they could possibly mean. Both Mal and Evie snapped out of it then, staring at Ben like they had just realized he was there.

          “Whatever it is could probably be done in our room” John offered. Fabien, Evie and Mal all turned to him in horror. The resulting should of ‘NO’ from the three combined forces almost knocked him down. “Alright, fuck it.” He shook his head.

         “Wait” Evie had a thought. “He’s right…not his room that…that would be awful but…Carlos could distract Geneviève” Mal nodded.

        “Veronica?” Evie thought about that.

       “She was trying to say something earlier. I could figure it out I’m sure. She wanted my attention for…something.”

       “Maybe she needs a new reader? I mean…without Eridan?” Evie nodded.

       “That makes sense.” John bit his lip and scoffed, but didn’t say anything. “I’ll teach her how to do it herself. That way she can go through her books without him. That’s how I’ll distract her. We’ll use our room, that way their room is empty and nothing happens around John…no offence.” The last part was said with an apologetic wince to John himself. He shrugged off their concern.

       “None taken. My sister’s gonna be glad to know her reputation is unharmed.” He turned to Ben. “Where is our room please?” This had bad idea written… _ALL_ over it. Liberally and with a big black marker.

       “Geneviève is rooming with me!” Jane said suddenly. Ben blinked back at her and she shrugged. He was instantly grateful to have a friend like her. It fixed the whole problem. She wouldn’t leave her room, they couldn’t distract her, and whatever they were trying to do she’d stop it in its tracks. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his friends…he didn’t trust the new kids. They’d given him no reason to trust them. Fabien in particular rubbed him the wrong way. It may have been because he was Mal’s ex, but something about that kid was…off. He didn’t want them in a room alone together.  

       “Right.” He nodded. “And Veronica is rooming with Audrey.” He hadn’t had the idea, but now it was a great one. The problem before was that the villain kids had managed to segregate themselves. If they were rooming with heroes the whole problem would be null and void.  “I’ll be rooming with Fabien” he continued, he was the best option to keep an eye on the kid, “And John you’ll be rooming-“

       “Alone” John cut him off with a snap. Ben blinked. He hadn’t had a problem rooming with Fabien. What was he hiding?

       “The rooms are really big John” Evie tried. He fixed the princess with a level glare. She turned to Ben. “Carlos?” The question was for both of them. It hadn’t escaped her notice that all of the new villains were getting shiny hero roommates. And she had to hand it to him that it was a good idea. After all, most of their planning had happened in Carlos and Jay’s room. Ben thought about it. Carlos was one of his trusted friends and John didn’t speak French for them to plot anything even if Carlos got sucked into something.

       “Would you be alright rooming with Carlos?” Ben asked. John bit his lip again, but nodded slowly. Ben nodded. “Carlos then. We’ll move Jay when he gets back.” Ben…didn’t understand what just happened. But John looked a lot more comfortable with even the idea of Carlos over someone else. Now Ben just had to figure out where to slot Jay. Jane’s quick thinking had solved a problem. All that had to happen was that the roommates be switched. He could switch to room with Fabien because his room was a single. Speaking of which. “You all…don’t have much stuff. There’s an allowance set up for clothing but…” John gave a tight smile.

       “I have what I need…don’t worry about it.” Ben blinked. He needed a lot more than an over-sized backpack for the rest of his life in Auradon.

       “And…you?” He asked Fabien. The other boy smiled and pulled out a deck of tarot cards.

       “I travel light.” Ben blinked again. Geneviève hadn’t seemed to have anything on her but…He shook his head. The only one that might have smuggled something to Auradon was Veronica and she couldn’t communicate with others so, they were in the clear.

       “Well” Ben grinned brightly. “Welcome to Auradon…let me show you around.” With that he turned and led them to the school. Belle and Adam watched the procession with worry on their faces. Maleficent tilted her head at the retreating backs of the students.

       “Well” Belle sighed. “That could have gone worse”

       “Not by much” Maleficent calmly confirmed. Then she was gone in a swirling of green magic. Great…just great.


	4. Let's see how Audrey's doing...not well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as I may have mentioned, if I haven't, shame on me-I have 2 co writers. That's how crazy big this story is. Anyways, one of the co writers has massive influences in this chapter, as in, the character Georgie. Georgie belongs to Elliot. Say Hi to Elliot. Another character he controls, Eridan, is mentioned.

        _ **{This is French}**_

 

        “OH YOU ARE SO LUCKY YOU’RE IN MILAN!” Georgie frowned over the phone. This conversation had been going on for a half hour now. It was honestly ridiculous, but it was the only way he was going to get gossip from the school at this point. Who knew so much could happen over the summer?

       “I almost wish I wasn’t” He said to his near hysterical best friend.

       “You lying little bitch you’re having the time of your life” She easily heard the chuckle that he couldn’t quite hide.

         “Well, you do know me best.” He confirmed. “What are the new rejects like?”

        “I didn’t see them. I wasn’t dragged to the welcoming committee this time.” 

:         ”AUDREY!”

         “WHAT!”

          “You are supposed to be there to get first pics of the terrible outfits and tell me what to expect in terms of how much brain bleach I need to pick up.” Audrey chuckled. “As well as show off what it means to _not_ be a hot mess”

        “Well, that just means they don’t know and you can laugh yourself when you get here.” He hummed. You weren’t best friends from childhood with someone and not notice…little things. Like the fact that they were on a regular phone call rather than a video chat. It wouldn’t be so odd, but it had been for a few weeks.

         “Is there any other news?” He gently probed. He really did wish he was there. Audrey had an expressive face. If he could see her he could figure out what the problem was.

          “Well, Jane ran in and magically moved her stuff. Something about a room emergency. I don’t care. If I get a single it’s perfect right now.” There was a sniff from her side. Georgie blinked at the phone in confusion.

          “I _do_ have a single.” He said after a beat. “Mumsie paid extra for it after last year’s debacle.” Audrey managed a snicker at that.

         “I still say it’s not Kuzon’s fault you sleep like a feather.”

         “He snores like an actual mountain troll.” Georgie protested. That got a full peal of laughter and he relaxed. It was a little upsetting. Something was wrong and he wasn’t there with fro-yo and her favorite hairbrush. Still, getting a smile on her face was an accomplishment. There was a rustling from her end of the line, then…

           “What’s going on?” He blinked. He was counting on her to explain what was wrong. “Are you SHITTING ME!” He blinked again. “NO, BEN-YOU PROMISED!” There was some muffled response. “AND I’M SUPPOSED TO PUT UP WITH THIS AFTER WHAT SHE’S DONE TO ME!” Georgie blinked. Who was ‘she’? Granted, both Mal and Evie had stolen her boyfriend at some point in time. Mal was apparently his ‘true love’; Georgie didn’t buy it as far as he could throw it. Evie was spelled. She wasn’t on their shit-list because she hadn’t had control of herself. Chad who, after gaining control of himself blushed through a half-baked excuse of finding someone ‘better’ and wanting to break up anyway, was most DEFINITELY on their shit-list. He didn’t know where the other boy was on Audrey’s, but on his /personal/ list, that was number one. Especially since he knew what had happened in middle school.  “I REFUSE! NO, BEN I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT! SEND THEM ALL BACK TO THE ISLE WHERE THEY BELONG AS FAR AS I CARE! YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME” Georgie, countries away, clenched the phone tighter as he heard his best friend start to sob. what the fuck was happening over there! He turned and grabbed the landline phone in his room and dialed the familiar number. He let Audrey have her tantrum while he waited for the receiver to be picked up. He looked at his face critically as it rang. He frowned as his cell suddenly cut off.

         “Hello?” Came the too chipper voice.

          “Artful! Wonderful. Look, I can’t talk long-gotta dash to the runway. When exactly am I going back to Auradon? Just checking.”

 

* * *

                  

        “OH YOU ARE SO LUCKY YOU’RE IN MILAN!” Audrey practically shouted into the phone. She should have taken the invite but _no_ , she wanted to go home for the summer. Which she couldn’t even do now because of…this.

        “I almost wish I wasn’t” She couldn’t help the snort that bubbled up

        “You lying little bitch you’re having the time of your life” Sure enough, he didn’t even try to deny it.                                                                                     

        “Well, you do know me best.” She shook her head and rolled her eyes. It was awful here…but he could always make her feel better, even over a time difference. He would be horrified if he knew she was still in bed.“What are the new rejects like?”

        “I didn’t see them. I wasn’t dragged to the welcoming committee this time.” 

        ”AUDREY!” She winced. Right, she was supposed to help him prepare to not pass out from overabundance of leather and just…wrong.

        “WHAT!”

        “You are supposed to be there to get first pics of the terrible outfits and tell me what to expect in terms of how much brain bleach I need to pick up.” Audrey chuckled, but her heart wasn’t in it. She couldn’t go downstairs like this. She couldn’t leave her room. “As well as show off what it means to _not_ be a hot mess” Good luck with doing that now. She choked back a sob. She didn’t want to worry Georgie. Knowing him, he already knew something was wrong.

        “Well, that just means they don’t know and you can laugh yourself when you get here.” She focused on being snarky. Snarky and Salty would keep her from sad. Bitchy was better than breakdown.  

        “Is there any other news?” She shook her head. He may not have known it, but his voice always got a bit softer on the edges when he was asking a question without asking it. You weren’t friends with someone from childhood and not notice little things like that.

        “Well, Jane ran in and magically moved her stuff.” Audrey shrugged, pulling a piece of useless information out. “Something about a room emergency. I don’t care.” She hadn’t been paying attention. “If I get a single it’s perfect right now” She couldn’t help the tears that worked their way out as she looked as her pastel skin. She hoped her voice hadn’t cracked. He’d know something was wrong then.

        “I _do_ have a single.” He said after a beat. She wasn’t sure if it was news or an offer. She also wasn’t sure if he’d still want to be her friend after he saw this. “Mumsie paid extra for it after last year’s debacle.” Audrey managed a snicker at that.

        “I still say it’s not Kuzon’s fault you sleep like a feather.” She teased. It made her a bit happier to think of things from a few months ago, when a date to homecoming was her biggest problem.

        “He snores like an actual mountain troll.” Georgie protested. That got a full peal of laughter . She happened to sleep over at Kuzon’s castle a few times when they were children. She would have gone more for ‘baby alpaca’. Before she could tell Georgie this fact, her room door opened. She sat up a little bit, rustling the blankets she was currently cocooned in. Ben marched in, flanked by Jane and…

        “What’s going on?” She asked, trying to keep her cool. It wasn’t working. She felt her chest getting tighter as she looked at the two villain girls. The taller one came in and placed three trunks by Jane’s now vacant bed. “Are you SHITTING ME!” Audrey demanded. The shorter, purple fashion disaster walked in and nodded at the girl who had just been holding her things.

        “Audrey.” Jane started. “The… room emergency”

        “NO” She wasn’t having it. NO!

        “Audrey it’s only temporary.”  

        “BEN-YOU PROMISED!” She wasn’t supposed to room with V.K.s. _especially_ after the party from Hell!

        “And I promise I will find you a suitable roommate for the rest of the semester once we figure out who’s actually—”

        “AND I’M SUPPOSED TO PUT UP WITH THIS AFTER WHAT SHE’S DONE TO ME!”

        “Audrey it’s not that bad. Besides it wasn’t Veronica who—”

        “I REFUSE!” Audrey got up from the bed then, throwing off her blankets to let the two new girls see her ruined skin and hair.

        “Audrey Please”  

        “NO, BEN I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT! SEND THEM ALL BACK TO THE ISLE WHERE THEY BELONG AS FAR AS I CARE! YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME” He made a very wise strategic retreat then, just ducking out and running. Audrey screeched as she chased after him. He was fast, but even in her heeled slippers she was a bit faster. He had to jump out of a window to get away from her fast enough. The tall girl just sort of watched.

 

* * *

 

 

It took about twenty minutes, but Audrey came back to the room. It was odd, the near purple under her eyes caused from sobbing herself silly. The tall girl was still there when she got back. “When Ben snaps out of his obsession with your leader he’ll send all of you _monsters_ back where you came from so no one has to look at the _freak show_ anymore!”

**_{If the freak show is shipped out then I guess you’ll be on the boat too huh Pixie?}_ **

Audrey turned to the bitch leaning up against the wall. **_{I’m only like this because of a curse! You were born horrible! And you’ll never get better!}_** The girl looked stricken and Audrey felt a vicious bubble of dark pride. If she was stuck with them at the least she could make them feel as terrible as she felt being around them. She gave the girl a cursory glance, finding things to pick apart and ruin self-esteem over. The girl opened her mouth, possibly to make the first attack.

        **_{You speak French?}_** That…that wasn’t what she expected. At all. The girl wasn’t glaring down it seemed, she was just…really tall. And so she seemed like she was glaring due to the angle. Audrey took a few steps away from the girl and sure enough, she wasn’t stricken…just mildly confused.

        **_{Yes….is that a problem?}_** She asked. The girl blinked, growing more confused.

        **_{No…I mean…it’s just surprising. There are not a lot of people that can understand me on the isle.}_** Audrey frowned. She was mad at these horrible scum bitches. Bonding over a common language…her _first_ language nonetheless, was not the plan. The twins, while they spoke it, could be insufferable when then wanted to be. Georgie was gone and on top of that, his accent made it better to speak to him in English half the time. She hadn’t been able to teach that away. Carlos was…well he could speak it. That was better than most could say. But he was _terrible_. There were so many people with French roots it was honestly astounding English was the common language of the school. Oh well.

        **_{Why are you outside of my room?}_** she switched the subject, preferring to stay angry. The tall girl blinked and smiled wide.

        **_{Oh if Veronica needs help unpacking her bags then it’s easier for her to just leave the room and grab me. And I didn’t want to intrude on your space.}_** Audrey pouted. French speaking and polite with…decent bone structure. Horrible taste in fashion and her hair was nothing short of a wreck, but…this girl was…workable.

        **_{Why weren’t you picked to be my roommate?}_** Audrey asked.

        **_{Oh! Veronica can’t speak so you wouldn’t have a loud roommate. She’s cluttered but she’s used to a lot more space. She brought a lot of her stuff over. I don’t know why though. Maybe she just wants practice before…}_** The girl abruptly stopped talking.

        **_{Before what?}_** Audrey didn’t like VKs, especially not when they made odd, vague, _evil_ comments. The tall girl blinked.

        **_{Well…before we have to go back. You said it yourself. Our time here is…limited. We’ll probably be gone before you know it. It’s better that way. It was nice meeting you.}_** It was Audrey’s turn to blink. This…why did Villain Kids feel the need to be different than what people thought? It wasn’t fair. She pursed her lips tightly. She wanted to be angry with all the Villains…

 

* * *

 

 

They said be careful what you wish for because you run the risk of getting it. Audrey screamed loud enough that she could actually _feel_ her throat getting sore. Great, just GREAT! Her scream had caused Ben and Jane to sprint back at the very least. They were accompanied by Mal, Evie, a new boy, Killian, Ethan, Chad, the Fairy Godmother…basically anyone who was still in school for the summer session...with the exception of one Fabien Facilier who was currently unpacking. Granted; everyone still in school had gone to the disaster party and so already knew what Audrey looked like. She still didn’t want to be seen like this, hence the hiding out in her room and only coming out for food with blankets draped over herself. But this…

        “Audrey!” Ben cried

        “What’s wrong” Evie tried unsuccessfully to calm her down.

        “Whoa”

 

* * *

 

 

Yes whoa. Audrey had chased Ben for three minutes, had a tantrum for twenty and slowly walked back to her room in five. She hadn’t been gone an hour. She hadn’t been gone _half_ an hour. And her room had been _destroyed_ by the little freak! Veronica in less than half an hour had managed to strew seaweed _everywhere_. There were strange stalagmites and stalactites growing everywhere; black and green and grey and blue and red and purple. They gave off a strange smoke, allowing a fog to fill the room. The floor boards had been ripped up, allowing for a small pool to take up residence in the center of the room, with _something_ swimming inside. The walls even had odd bubble markings, perfect circles of varying colors posted everywhere in a rainbow. And the sheer number of books! They piled to the ceiling and fell over and…Audrey fainted, though whether from shock or shortage of air was anyone’s guess.  So yes, Audrey had screamed like her life depended on it. And yes, the only thing Carlos could say to the…mess…was ‘whoa.

 

* * *

 

 

In the center of all of it was Veronica, managing to look as innocent as possible with a mess that she had to have been the cause of. She actually looked stricken when Audrey fell out. Everyone tried to get into the room and see the horror for themselves.

        “Veronica was it?” Ben probed. Veronica nodded vigorously. “What…what did you do?” She blinked twice…then pointed at Ben and smiled. She then made a motion of looking for something. She grabbed her necklace, a spiraled shell like her mother’s. Then she shrugged. She turned in a slow circle. She gave a two fingered salute…but her fingers were…curved? She crossed her eyes and ran a finger across her temples, then curved her hands as if grasping something and…squeezed twice? She threw out her arms as if to make herself bigger and grinned, then went to make herself as small as possible, curling up in a ball. Afterward she rolled back to her feet, seemingly done. Everyone…everyone looked at each other. It was a very long time before anyone spoke.

        “So” Mal started slowly. “Veronica can’t speak…she…does…well, _that_. But the only one who understands that is Eridan.”

        “Who?” Ben asked.

        “Eridan Evil” John confirmed Carlos jumped. Yes, on the isle you had to be quiet but John was…another animal.

        “He’s part of your crew right?” Mal asked. John nodded stoically.

        “So…You understand her right?” John raised an eyebrow.

        “Eridan’s job is literally to translate her. He’s not the official translator, just the one for _her_.”

        “Isn’t she your cousin?” Ben asked. Mal frowned.

        “Only technically. Besides, I don’t get along with her sister…at all.”

        “Sister?” Ben asked.

        “ _Uma_ Aquila” Mal’s snarl was dark enough to send a shiver down his spine. So Uma, whoever that was, was most definitely not going to be brought over for a while. She could be on the boat with Fiona, the last brought over. He didn’t want to upset Mal. They also needed to bring over Eridan sooner than later if he was the only one that could understand her. Maybe he’d be able to tell why she had done…this.

        “Brainless?” Evie asked gently. Geneviève padded over. Ben watched her. It was astounding. She was enormous and looked like she probably packed a bit of a punch, even though her arms were oddly short. It seemed like it was some sort of nickname. He frowned at the thought of a place where such hurtful nicknames were the norm. “You know a lot of languages. Is one of them Veronica?”   Geneviève frowned.

        { ** _Why do you assume I can translate anything? That’s not even a language. How would I know that?}_** Geneviève sounded…tried, as if she was often asked to translate odd things. Everyone turned to Carlos at once.

        “Um…” He stopped to actually figure it out. “She’s sorry. No.” Geneviève rolled her eyes.

        **_{OH WAIT! Maybe we don’t need to understand her!}_**

        “What did she say” Mal asked Carlos.

        “Um, she just had an idea.” He nodded. Geneviève nodded frantically and purposefully spoke very quickly

        **_{Why am I bothering with the long way? He only gets maybe every third word}_** Sure enough, Carlos protested her going so quickly. She resisted the urge to smirk. **_{Okay, I’m only going to say the words you know when I need you to. Voice Evie filler words voice, get it and don’t be stupid with this because it keeps her out of the picture while we put our plan into action. She might actually prove dangerous left alone and we need everything to go right. This solves two problems at once. Veronica needed a voice anyway.}_** Carlos blinked. He slowly tried to process what he’d heard.

        “She had an idea?” Ben prompted.

        “Oh…yeah…um. Evie can let Veronica use her voice for a little bit. It…solves the problem….prove…prove her _actions_ weren’t malicious.” He nodded, pleased that he’d gotten all of that. Viv spoke _fast_ when she got excited…or when she wanted him to lose words. He was never sure of which. She got excited so easily. Veronica gasped at that, then put a pointer finger on her nose and pointed with her free hand to Geneviève with a nod.

        “But how can she cast a spell if she can’t speak?” Ben asked. Mal grinned.

        “She can speak.” The fairy revealed. “Just not on dry land.”

 

* * *

 

 

It was how Evie, Mal, Ben, Carlos, and Veronica were gathered around the enchanted lake. Geneviève and John stayed with Audrey to calm her when she woke. Veronica had one of her many books, which it seemed she had selected at random. She looked at the lake in something akin to awe. She kneeled down at the edge and it looked like she would almost cry as she went to touch it. Ben reached out to stop her and her face for an instant was somewhere between heartbreak, betrayal, and burning hate.

        “Can you swim?” he asked her gently. She blinked up at him, and then nodded. He let her hand go. “Evie, can you swim.” Evie bit her cheek.

        “No” She confirmed.

        “I’m going to go down there to make sure everything’s alright. Or, hey-you could use _my_ voice.” Veronica looked at him. She started laughing…hysterically. It was a bit odd to see someone silently laugh. Her shoulders shook; her head went back, a tear even escaped. “Okay, okay. I get it, no male voice. But…we have to make sure everyone’s safe. I need to be there at least to make sure Evie won’t—HEY!” As if in response to his worry, Veronica had gotten up while he was speaking…and did a running jump off of the pier and into the water. He understood why after a moment. The water bubbled, almost as if it was boiling. Then Veronica reappeared…and a tentacle rose from the water and gently wrapped around Evie’s wrist. Ben looked at Evie…Evie took a deep breath…and allowed herself to be lifted into the air, and then into the water.

 

_Seafresisa hic pulmone_

_etiam nullus usus._

_Pedes habent usum hic. Fieri creatura_

_sit similis mei in te mea_

_dextera. Cum excoquatur_

_off, mutare tergum._

 

Evie felt her lungs _burning._ Then she felt the same burning extend to her legs. Trusting an Aquila was a BAD IDEA. She tried to flail to the surface. She had to tell Mal to avenge her, had to assure ben that all villain kids weren’t this bad. That there had to be some grudge she didn’t know about. She tried to hold the air as long as she could, but the pain caused her to let out a scream. She watched helplessly as her bubble of oxygen floated away. Her legs were melting in pain and bound together with something sticky. Something horrible. She jerked as much as she could, as if trying to show that she was drowning. She couldn’t move.

        “Sorry” She blinked at the voice…mostly because it didn’t sound waterlogged. It sounded…scratchy…and hoarse. She looked up to see a moderately bemused Veronica…‘standing’ on the bottom of the lake. Her sail billowed out around her without the shape of her body keeping it as a dress and making it cling to her. “I would have grabbed you faster if you were going to take a breath. That just makes it hurt.”

        “You…don’t…sound like I thought you would.” Evie says slowly. Veronica just rolls her eyes.

        “You aren’t the first person to say that” She shook her head. Evie wondered who else had heard Veronica speak. “Do you wanna do the spell? Or stare at yourself?” Evie blinked, not understanding the last part…until she looked at her…tail? Yes, tail. She had a tail like a Koi fish. And it was a dark blue spotted with black and white. She ran her fingers down her tail…then she noticed her hands were webbed.

        “Oh wow…WOW” She still didn’t quite _know_ how to swim, but it was a lot easier with fish tail. Like, look a direction, wiggle…get closer. She must have been doing horribly because Veronica kept laughing at her. “Okay…you can stop laughing” Evie fake grumbled. It didn’t help. Veronica was still snickering. Evie managed to wiggle her way nearer to Veronica. “Okay, do the spell so I can get on dry land and stop being you entertainment. I have things to do.” Veronica perked up at the sentence.

        “Yes…so do I…” She nodded to herself.

        “How much more unpacking can you possibly do?” Evie asked. Veronica laughed again. “And don’t say that was only one trunk. Gwen’s not here to fix Audrey.”  Veronica smirked, but held Evie still with her tentacles.

_Beluga sevruga_

_Come winds of the Caspian Sea_

_Larengix glaucitis_

_Et max laryngitis_

_La voce to me_

 

Evie gasped as her voice was ripped out…literally, _ripped_. There was no pain, just a sort of hollow weightlessness around her throat. She couldn’t help but wonder if this was what Veronica felt all the time. It was…an odd feeling. She was hyper aware of the fact something was missing…just couldn’t say precisely what. Veronica was happy. She’d gotten what she needed…and without raising suspicion. Now she could get Evie out of the picture too. If everyone else did what they supposed to, then this would be the easiest task anyone had ever done. She had faith in Fabien, and John. It was the brainless moron she didn’t trust. Oh well, you work with what you’ve got.


	5. Room problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about that. I did want to have a schedule and put out Chapters faster, then work got in the way. This should be done really soon and I've already got part of the next part written. This series is about to explode so thanks in advance for taking a look at this ride. As always, Kudos and comments are highly appreciated.

_**{again, this is French}** _

 

_ 5:30pm _

 

        “You had said, ‘make yourself feel at home so…” It was odd, Evie’s voice coming out of the very obviously NOT EVIE. “I mean…my home is actually an underwater cave but I thought my roomie might not agree with that.” It was punctuated with a shrug. Evie shook her head, mute for now. Mal was frowning but looked a bit hopeful. Ben sighed as he looked at the… _mess_. There was absolutely no other way to describe this. But if she was trying to make it look like an unwater cave that made more sense.

        “I thought you guys couldn’t get into the water?” He settled for. Audrey glared at him from inside of the blanket cocoon she’d remade. 

        “Well we couldn’t get out that way if that’s what you were afraid of. We tried.”

        “No I just…Mal couldn’t swim and she’d said that…”

        “Ah, there aren’t that many places to get in the water. By the docks and our cave, you need to at least tread water to get to it and then most of it’s underwater. We fixed that so that there’s an entrance on land, if you know where to look. Unless you have connections with one of the pirates, you can’t swim. Carlos has a connection with _my_ captain, she’s not useful for the whole-learning how to swim thing.”

        “You’re a pirate?” Ben asked, instantly worried. Veronica seemed a bit proud of that.

        “Yup. There are three crews on the Isle. I’m a bit biased; I think my crew is best-even if it’s the smallest, with the youngest Captain.” She went to a pile of books and pulled one at seemingly random. “I steer the ship. Well…we don’t have anywhere to go but, I keep it from crashing…theoretically. We’ve never had enough room to sail. The other ships do, but ours is the biggest.” With that Veronica settled in to read, bouncing down on the bed.

        “Evie’s…voice” Ben stared slowly. He didn’t really want to be ‘that’ guy but…Veronica had only needed a voice to tell them why she had destroyed Audrey’s room. He hadn’t missed the fact that she’d spoken a mile a minute on the way back up from the lake. He had noticed her just… _humming_ even as she settled to read. He also saw how her face crumpled when he so much as mentioned it. Evie moved forward and touched Ben’s shoulder to get his attention, then she started speaking and…well.

        “Um…E” She stopped, mouth opening and closing a few times. The wrong feeling of something missing was still there, but it was like an itch on the back of her neck. If she didn’t think about it she could forget about it…until her attention was pulled back to it. Veronica lowered the book to give Evie a sympathetic glance. She arched her neck and tapped at it a few times, then her palm went to massage her temple before she jerked her head in an almost disturbing motion.

        “Ronnie, you can talk now” Carlos said, not unkindly.

        “Oh…Right.” Veronica nodded. “I meant, it’s easy to forget you don’t have a voice until you find you can’t communicate with anyone…at all. Since Eridan and Uma aren’t here I’m sort of…” She distracted herself by humming. She seemed to speak her mind a lot, most likely a side effect of not speaking at all. Evie bit her lip, then left to room.

        “Where’s she going?” Ben asked. Mal shrugged.

        “Well I couldn’t exactly ask her now could I” Mal asked her boyfriend. Ben bit his lip. Yeah….he walked into that. Evie returned in short order, armed with a notebook and a pen.

_Since I can write and Veronica can’t I’ll just stay like this for a while. How long can she enjoy the novelty of having a voice? Besides, maybe this will help with…you know who._

Mal scowled at reading the note. Carlos looked away from the fairy. He wasn’t getting into that can of worms. You couldn’t _make_ him open that. He wouldn’t open it if it were still on the isle and he was a hundred thousand miles away.

        You know who?” Ben asked.

        “A week would be amazing” Veronica said. “I wouldn’t ask for anything else for…ever.” Mal, Carlos and Evie all looked at her. “Ok.” She said quietly. “Yeah that was a lie but…well, no, no it’s not. I wouldn’t be able to ask anything after I give her voice back.”

        “You’ll give it back?” Mal accused. Veronica blinked a few times.

        “Yes” She said quietly. “I know what you think of me but…I would most definitely give her voice back. I kind of…know what it’s like not to have one.” Mal’s face stayed a tight scowl. Her eyes however, softened. Ben looked between them. There was something going on here…something important. If he’d learned anything during his time dating Mal, it was that it was best to let her tell him what was going on. If he probed, she got angry and clammed up even more. Veronica wasn’t lying. A week was more than enough time. In fact, she only needed three days. The parallel was not lost on her, three days with a stolen voice in order to put into play a much bigger plan. The first thing to do was wait until her roommate was asleep.  Or better yet…

        “Are you seeing this?” Audrey demanded to whoever was on the other side of the phone. There was a gagging noise so exaggerated that Veronica heard it from across the room. She like needs massive help from an interior designer.” Veronica   was still humming, trying to ignore her roommate. She needed to perform a spell which would have been much easier if she were still rooming with Geneviève. But there was more than one way to skin a cat.  This cat just required…finesse. And so she started humming louder. Hopefully she could drive Audrey up a wall and then the other girl would let her room with Geneviève again. And Ben was proving a slight problem hanging off of Mal. That being said, it had been almost a month. This couldn’t be allowed to continue.

 

_ 4:00pm _

__

Fabian kept the smile on his face as the prince talked his ear off. He kept glancing at Mal. The fake smile on his face grew a bit more real as he looked at her. It wasn’t as horrible as it could have been. They were back together for the full moon. That was important thing. But this annoyance was already getting in the way. As if he somehow _knew_ what was going on. But there was no way for that to be possible…Mal wouldn’t betray them like that.

        “Fabian?” Ah, the dark angel herself. He looked up at the familiar voice.

        “Ahm sarry darlin’.” He said “Just got lahst in thought” He looked at her long enough for her to blink at him.

        “What are you staring at?” He hummed underneath his breath, then leaned down a bit. He gently pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and out of her face.

        “Thare. Perfect” Mal rolled her eyes at him, a smile playing around her lips. “To ansa, you. You haave this…rahdiannce. It’s alwaas been thare, but your mahgic makes it brigta…like a glow be-hand your ahs.” Mal rolled her eyes and reached over to push Fabian lightly. Ben scowled, but resisted the very real urge to growl.

        “Fabian!” His voice was perhaps a bit too loud. “And John” He added after a beat. “You guys are really lucky. It’s the summer session so you have plenty of time to catch up and get settled before everyone comes back from break.” Fabien and John exchanged a look, both deeply amused. “Right” Ben said, feeling the heat at the back of his neck. “John you’re rooming with Carlos so we’re just going to have him move into your assigned room.”John scoffed at that, raising a brow. Fabien snickered. “Fabian” Be continued, “This is our room.” The room wasn’t as empty as it should have been. It was filled with video games…a TV…even a 3-d printer. Two four poster beds at either side. Fabien scowled at the opulence, but quickly switched it to a smile.

        “Whale roomie” He smiled at Ben. “Hope ya don’t mind ifin I unpack, and sleep. I’m a bit tuckered” Ben blinked at ‘unpack’.

        “Of course” He bowed his head and got out of the way so that Fabien could enter.” Once he entered, Fabien wasted no time in locking his roommate out. He scowled at the empty air. That prissy prince just _HAD_ to make everything harder, didn’t he? Three days. After the sun set on the third day, nothing he did would matter. Still, his part of the plan had just gotten a lot harder. Still…Auradon. Fabian stalked over to one of the closets and opened it. He looked at all the empty space inside, then closed the closet. He shuddered as the power ripped through him. When he reopened the closet, there they were-all his suits hanging perfectly. There were, however, spots in his vision. He stumbled over to the bed he claimed by virtue of it being closest to him. First thing was first, he pulled the sheets down over the sides, creating shadow underneath. He was drained and woozy, but pulled his books from where they’d appeared under the bed. He sorted through his tarot cards and blew a bright puff of smoke out of one. It made that whole side of the room dark purple and black. He settled down on the dark sheets with their skull embroidery and swiftly fell to the land of sleep. The screaming didn’t even wake him.  

 

_ 3:30pm _

__

Geneviève gently placed down the first of the trunks she’d been given. This, according to Carlos, was supposed to be their room. The daughter of Gaston cracked her neck, freeing it from the ever present stiffness. If only for a moment. She was always in pain. Either her neck, which was always stiff, her chest-which was constricted painfully, her feet, which always ached, her back…everything was in constant pain. It would have made sleeping very difficult. Luckily, she didn’t do that a lot. She looked around the too large room and frowned. Her room back at home was big as well but…not this big. There was enough space for the twin beds and the small area between them to walk back home. She and her roommate often threw clothes down or slept in them. She actually wasn’t sure what to do with this much room between only two people, there were two four poster queen sized beds with enough space between them for both girls to do gymnastics if they so wanted. You could fit eight in here and have it be too big! She growled lightly beneath her breath.

 

* * *

 

 

Veronica was fine. She lived with five other people yes, but they had a bit more than this space. She lived in an underwater cave partially beneath the isle. It was big enough for the massive library between her and her closest ally. Not to mention the weapon collection her ‘family’ had. To be fair, a lot of the time her sister was gone. Still, it would probably be just enough space between the two of them. Geneviève would have to stay on her side of the room. It was better that they were only going to be here a while. She just needed to get a voice somehow. Then she could put the plans into motion. Chances were if there was a body of water, she could take her roommate there in the dead of night. Nobody would notice both of them missing if the only person to point it out was also gone. She could be quiet, no one would miss her. Then…Carlos started talking. 

        “As you can see, you guys have a great view of the quad. The building for classes is right over there.” Carlos, for his part, was trying. It didn’t matter…none of this mattered. Veronica would do her spells and that would be it. And Evie needed to be taken care of…Carlos would be made more difficult. Geneviève was supposed to handle Jay, but with no Jay here there was no surefire way to get Carlos to agree to anything. Shit.

        “Brainless?” Geneviève jumped slightly. She had completely zoned out. To be fair, Veronica had also zoned out. Carlos knew it by the glazed look on the mute girl’s face. Geneviève had been pretending to pay attention at least. “I was talking about the sports teams here.” Geneviève raised an eyebrow, interested in that. “We have track, tourney, archery…you can probably find something to make even Gaston happy.” Geneviève’s eyebrow raised and her face fell slightly. “Is something wrong?”

        **_{It’s nothing…well, it is something. I just…Do you really think Gaston would care? But even if he does…it’s too late. I already fucked up. I need to fix this. We need you, and Mal, and…You have no idea what I’m saying do you?}_** Carlos had been nodding at first…then his face got confused…then he zoned out. Geneviève just rolled her eyes. ** _{Stop worrying. There’s nothing you can do. Plans have been set in motion.}_** Carlos blinked a few times.

        “Worry? Don’t worry about you?” Geneviève nodded with a smile “What…what plans?” Her smile got tighter. His knowledge of French was…unfortunate at times. Then again, he didn’t know enough to be dangerous. Only…unfortunate.

        **_{I said designs. What designs do you think I should do for my side of the room?}_** Carlos narrowed his eyes. True that the word was the same for both, but it didn’t quite fit with what he thought the rest of that sentence was.  But…he wasn’t the best translator out there.

        “Um…designs for the room?” she nodded. “What did you bring?” Geneviève just gestured at herself. ”You didn’t even bring other clothes?” Carlos asked. Geneviève tilted her head in confusion, and then shook her head. Carlos sighed. “You guys get an allowance for clothes so, that’s alright.” Geneviève pushed her bed in the corner to give Veronica more space, then flopped on it. Carlos jumped as his phone started to ring. He answered in confusion, then looked over at her. “Um…brainless?” he started. “Um…Veronica got her room changed. Would you mind?”

        **_{No, no. I don’t mind. I’m the only one strong enough to do it and I’m not being that cruel to Mitzi.}_** Carlos blinked a few times, but before he could figure out what she was saying she was already lifting up the trunks.

        “What did Veronica bring anyway?” He asked again. Last time he’d caught the word for ‘book’ so he was hoping for maybe…the rest. If none of them brought clothes…actually, he couldn’t even pretend to be surprised if none of them brought clothes. Geneviève just sighed and gave him a look. He was guessing she didn’t know. He walked the two girls down the hall to where Audrey’s room was. He decided on the safer option and ducked out of sight. Good for him, Audrey was screaming and actually chased after Ben.

 

* * *

 

 

Alone in the room, Veronica shut the door. She’d never seen such a spoiled brat. Well…Mal but, that was neither here nor there. Mal didn’t flaunt it. She took off her necklace and placed it on the bed. She shuddered as she changed from her human form to her real form.  Her new sensitive skin didn’t like the oxygen in the room and her chest grew tight at trying to breathe the too thin air. She flipped the first trunk open; time to make this place a bit homier. Inside the trunk was some seaweed, some kelp, a few rocks, not much. Tentacles came from her back and lifted the rocks. The tentacles were stained with color after touching them and so tried to wipe the color off on the walls. The only thing that succeeded in was making a bunch of sucker shaped marks on the wall. She shrugged and her backpack seemed to slide off, growing more tentacles as it did. Within seconds there was a small octopus sitting on the floor and helping her unpack. She busied herself with ripping up floorboards and filling the space with water. One of her trunks was just full of water…and Tobi. He started swimming around, exploring his new home. The third trunk was just filled with books and two extra sails. Her tentacles made short work of the largest trunk, stacks of books being arranged in an order only known to those that lived with her. She looked up as she heard Geneviève speaking and placed her necklace back on. Mitzi got back on her back and hid, scared of new people. Her roommate from before came in. Apparently, she didn’t like the redecoration, or was just shocked. It was easy to unpack with eighteen hands.

_ 4:30pm _

 

Geneviève returned to the room she’d been assigned. Jane was puttering around, arranging all of her things. The French girl didn’t understand why she needed so much, or how she could use it all. But that wasn’t her problem. Talking to her roommate was a waste of time, she already knew that.

        “So, my name is Jane and I’ll be your roommate from now on and…I….I don’t know if you can understand me…can you?” Geneviève raised a brow and held in a chuckle. If she didn’t understand the girl then there was no way for her to answer the question of whether or not she understood. It was all very amusing. And Jane, for her part of trying to be friendly, continued. “Did you want to move your bed over for more space?” A shake of the head and a bemused look was all that answered her. “Oh well…umm, where are your clothes? And do you have anything you want or” Geneviève walked over a gently placed a finger on Jane’s lips, with a smirk. “Right…you…can’t speak English and this is…stupid.” Geneviève giggled a bit and pat Jane’s head before she went off to explore.

 

_ 4:30pm _

__

John walked carefully into the room he was assigned. He didn’t know what Fabien wanted to keep from him…rather, keep from Jessie. It didn’t really matter. She’d find out anyway if she wanted, in her own time at least. He would have to tell her that someone was trying to hide something from her. He racked his mind for what it might be that she didn’t know, but that was a problem in of itself. She knew so much it was hard to fathom what she might not know, worse yet was trying to think of what other people thought she didn’t know. He picked a bed at random and overturned his bad unto it. A few extra shirts and pants, some hair ties he’d gotten for Geneviève, bandages, a notebook, and a tape recorder….and of course, since he was the one least likely to be searched for magical items, the necklace. He wasn’t planning on staying here for too long. He folded up his clothes and lay on the bed. He had no real part in this plan. Fabien was handling Mal, there was no Jay for Geneviève to get, Veronica would take care of Evie…but there was no one to take care of Carlos if Jay wasn’t here. He groaned. He didn’t _want_ to be sociable, but apparently he had to seem trustworthy for a bit. Joy. Speaking of the little should be devil. Carlos came into the room, struggling with bags. John jumped up and crossed to him.

        “Do you need a bit of help?” He asked as he took about half of the bags from the other boy.

        “Oh, thanks John!” Auradon had made Carlos oft. He smiled at John far too honestly, as if he didn’t have his own agenda. John gave back his own smile, though a bit too tight and not reaching his eyes. He busied himself with helping Carlos and attempting to make himself seem useful and kindhearted. It was disgusting and he was genuinely insulted if Carlos fell for it.  

        “Hey, where are the girl’s rooms?” He asked gently. “I have some stuff for Brainless since she can’t carry much.” He gestured to the hair ties.

        “Oh, other side of the floor is girl’s dorms. Mal and Evie’s room is the first door when you go over there; they might know where the other two are.” John nodded, absently noted that the first door would be the first checked and a great idea from the heroes as it made it harder to defend. He grabbed the necklace, but also the hair ties in case he actually did run into Mal or Evie and need an excuse. He pocketed the tape recorder just in case and went to wander the girl’s dorms until he knocked on the appropriate door…or rather, that was his plan.  He quite literally walked into an eight foot wall of muscle. “Brainless!” He blinked up at her. “Just who I wanted to see.” He gave her the ties and necklace and she started going off in French. “Wait” He held up the recorder, happy that he’d brought it. She rattled off something; he’d bring it to Fabien later.

 

_ 8:00pm _

__

        **_{Veronica’s roommate speaks French. If I can distract her than her room can be free for the spell when I give this to her. My roommate is kind of…over involved. So my room won’t work. Unless you think it’d be easier to distract Carlos and free your room?}_** Fabien blinked at the recording, keeping his face carefully blank in front of Ben.

        “She s-aid that we shald meet up wit Caarlos, Mal and Evie and swap stories ahbout tha isle. She alsa said she’d give Ron back her haair tie.” Ben blinked and narrowed his eyes. Fabien raised an eyebrow back at him. It wasn’t because he’d dated Mal…it wasn’t. Something about this kid just…rubbed him wrong. That was all.

        “If you don’t mind, I’m going to have to take a rain check on that. The less I talk about the isle, the better” Mal scoffed into her dinner. Carlos could neither confirm nor deny as she’d been speaking too fast and Fabien was, most likely not providing an exact translation.  

        “I could go for that!” Veronica was enjoying Evie’s voice entirely too much. She hadn’t stopped talking. About useless things yes, but the point still stood. Her roommate was strangely absent. She was actually talking with Jane. Fabien rolled his eyes. He’d need to translate the real message later. Wait…actually.

 

_ 10:00pm _

__

Fabian worried his lip as he looked over the spell. This was sea magic and he shouldn’t have been dealing with it. But that was what they were working with. Veronica was getting a tour from Jane while Geneviève stood guard outside the door. He could handle this…how different could Voodoo magic be from sea magic? He really hoped this worked.


	6. THe Necklace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: I'm going to put a schedule on this.   
> Life: BITCH YOU THOUGHT!
> 
> As you can see, I am still WORKING on it. Part two is about halfway done if I'm lucky and I don't lose the plot...again. Then is the roller coaster of part 3...then everything gets a lil cray lol. Thank you for bearing with me. Please give feedback, I want to know what you all think. Thanks for reading lovelies.

_2:00 pm_

        “I can’t believe you did something so reckless! I mean, I would expect this from brainless but Fabien _really_?” It wasn’t safe to talk in the open. Evie’s voice was a bit shrill sometimes. Usually, this wasn’t a problem…as Veronica wasn’t sure of how to handle any voice let alone Evie’s, the ‘sometimes’ shrill was currently _very_ shrill.  Luckily, they were in her room alone as Geneviève was actually useful for once, distracting Audrey. “You were supposed to be somewhat intelligent!”

        “Whale ah jus din’t knaw if ya ware gon have time b’far it was needed.” Fabien pouted, which would have been unbecoming on anyone else. As it was, he didn’t have the decency to get his suit wrinkled as he somehow slumped while maintaining an elegant arch to his spine.

        “You made it WAY too strong” Veronica chided. The Necklace on its own was rather unassuming, a rusty heart shaped locket with a steel ball chain. It was something that a child had owned at some point in time most likely. The gold paint couldn’t quite hide the rust or wear of it, but the green ‘M’ was striking enough against the background. “She’ll know something’s wrong.”

        “She juss got ‘a full pawars. Weh nead _stronn’_. Who knoos whaht a full f’ry can stap.” Veronica scowled.

        “Fabien, we were supposed to hold her ransom. Take the necklace off if our demands were met. You made the spell WAY to strong if there’s no way to remove the clasp.” Veronica snarled. Fabien did look a bit guilty at that. “Besides, I haven’t seen you even doing your part!”

        “Ahm sarry, _you_ try getting ta Mal when prrinn-cee passesive is breehin down ya neck.” Veronica frowned.

        “This whole thing could blow up in our faces if we don’t handle him!” She groaned. “We have to find a way around him.”

        “Whale what’s Jawh doin?” Fabien snapped. Veronica flinched slightly.

        “I mean…I can’t promise anything but I can _ask_ him.” She admitted. Fabien nodded, knowing he couldn’t ask for much more than that.

        “So haw da we stap it wen we nee’?” Veronica shrugged.

        “I knew how to stop mom’s spell…this one…um…?” She shrugged again. While it was true, she didn’t particularly _like_ Mal, she hated stepping on toes.  Mal could be useful later.  Anyone could be useful if you gathered enough favors, so it paid to be kind. “I’ll figure it out.”

 

 

     

* * *

  

_11:00 am_

        “John?” He looked up and over at the voice that didn’t usually address him. They were in the library before lunch, trying to figure out how to catch up. Geneviève was just doing pushups on the floor. She couldn’t read so it was no surprise that she wasn’t paying attention to the library. Fabien was off trying to find Mal. In doing so, distracting Ben.

        “What did you need?” He asked gently, keeping his eye firmly on the pages of the book and not showing that he was paying attention. The Fairy godmother was in the halls, looking for the missing student along with the prince.

        “If Fabien can’t talk to Mal he’ll never get her back. “ Veronica was trying to hiss, but it came out more like a shout. John rolled his eyes.

        “Well I’m not the best at distractions, but I’ll see what I can do.” He said softly, standing up to find the prince. Truthfully, he wasn’t supposed to be here. He didn’t have a person to grab. Geneviève was supposed to grab Jay, who wasn’t here. Jay was _supposed_ to be able to bring Carlos. Veronica was supposed to deal with Evie, which she had actually done fairly well, though not enough for it to be used as a plan b. Fabien was floundering at dealing with Mal due to her new boyfriend. This plan was going belly up and he didn’t like it. Apparently he’d just have to sit and wait until his sister got here…that didn’t sit well with him either, but she was the best planner he knew.

 

 

* * *

 

_10:00am_

“I don’t know what to do” Mal admitted. It was a lazy day. Evie didn’t have any orders since school wasn’t in session for most of the children, and the four who had school were currently in class. Evie looked down at the fairy who had flung herself across the bed. There wasn’t much the princess could do but carefully run her fingers through the purple locks spilling over the side of her lap and on the bed. “You’re really not helpful right now” She moaned miserably, nuzzling into the lap. Evie laughed without laughing.

        “Has he said anything to you?” Carlos inquired from his spot on the floor. He had Mal’s hand in his own, running his thumb over her knuckles I small circles. His own lap was occupied by a sleeping Dude.

        “That magic looks good on me.” Mal sighed. Evie and Carlos both winced at that.  Mal wished, not for the first time since reaching Auradon. She used to wish to never be sent back, to impress everybody, to be liked, to fit in. It was different then her normal wishes back on the isle, for food or to win a fight. Now her wishes were just for it to be last month, before ALL of this. She looked over at her power staff and the amulet wrapped around it. It was nice to use magic. But she was really wishing to not be confused right now…and for Evie and Jay to be helpful right now.

        “The question is, do you still like him?” Carlos asked. Mal nodded with a frown.

        “Unfortunately. He is the most charming person on the isle. And he needs me. We need to find an empty room for the full moon.”

        “Well why not just ask Ben?” Carlos asked, always the voice of reason. Mal frowned again.

        “Number one, Ben hates him.” She said flatly “Number two, I don’t think Ben knows anything.” Evie’s face fell at that, an eyebrow rose. She didn’t have a voice currently, but if the indignant look on her face was anything to go by Mal would be hearing a rant if she had one.

        “What do you mean _anything_ ” Carlos asked, voice carefully even.

        “I’ve been watching. I don’t think Auradon does dating the same way. Like, we went on an actual date.” Both Carlos and Evie got tight at the thought.  Carlos looked up at Mal, his face frozen. His thumb stopped it’s circling. Mal tried to stifle the automatic feeling of abandonment caused by Carlos and Evie stopping. Evie stopped running her fingers as she reached for her whiteboard.

 

_Mal he WHAT!_

 

Mal had the decency to blush, though now it was less of a ‘coloration to her face’ and more ‘iridescent scales showing up on her cheekbones.’

        “So, I assumed he knew cause, well…” She shook her head. “Cause I’m stupid and it happened really fast for the plan and now we’ve been dating for a while and he never noticed or asked and I didn’t realize it was a problem until Fabian got here and Ben started acting…” She bit her lip. “Help?”  Carlos sighed and looked away. This was bad. Evie was furiously writing on her whiteboard. Mal sighed as Evie thrust the board under her nose.

 

_Mal this is DANGEROUS! Ben made you a princess in waiting and you’re an actual princess now. You’re the princess of the Moorlands. I’m going to be a princess of Thornwood any time now! I heard Jane talking about your wedding._

 

“WAIT WHAT!” Carlos jumped as Dude woke up and started barking. The white haired boy started to shush and coddle his puppy back to sleep.  “Wedding!” The room was suddenly a monsoon, winds whipping as the rain fell, a fog bursting out of nowhere. Carlos scrambled up on the bed to hug Mal tight. “What wedding?” Mal asked “When the hell was this decided?” Her voice was a bit breathy, her chest felt tight.

_The Coronation. It was the engaged to be engaged to be engaged party. You were his girlfriend to it. And what’s more, he didn’t dump you right after it. The whole kingdom is expecting you guys to marry after graduation._

 

Mal had stopped being able to read about halfway through the explanation. She fell slightly into Carlos, who finished reading out loud. That…that was bad. The maelstrom in the room grew more damaging.

        “I…I don’t know what to do” Mal said, scarcely breathing. The storm suddenly stopped in her panic, her eyes glassy as Evie joined in the hug.  “I mean…he’s wonderful, don’t get me wrong he’s perfect but…there’s so much he doesn’t know” The hug got tighter to stem her panic. She loved Ben but…marriage? To a prince? And what was worse, she was a princess. She didn’t know anything ABOUT the Moorlands or traditions or even fully how to use her powers or ANYTHING! And she was going to have to do this all alone! Evie would be busy once she was made an official princess of Thornwood, Jay might end up staying in Agrabah, and Carlos was probably going to Storybrook with his mom. She was supposed to get married and be a princess for two places, neither of which she knew anything about, meanwhile her ex was around again!

 

* * *

  _6:30 pm_

 

 

 

        “Prince Ben?”  John calmly knocked at the door the prince shared with Fabien. Ben opened the door, scowling as Fabien lay down on the black sheets reading a book. Ben was _more_ than a little peeved at the use of magic. No matter how much he tried to explain it, Fabien insisted on using his magic. He was happy in the knowledge that the boy was at least saying away from Mal. She seemed upset, no doubt with his presence. Ben was making sure the two were never alone…alright so she might have been a bit annoyed with him as well. But who could blame him! She’d gone a bit crazy because of her mother and the subsequent spell. Then her ex-boyfriend came back and…complimented her. In the hustle and bustle of protecting Mal from…well, protecting her, he hadn’t really paid much attention to the Hook boy.

        “Did you…need something?” He asked the boy. John looked away for a second, then bit his lip.

        “I just…I wanted to talk to someone.” He shrugged. “I miss my sister and well, Veronica can speak but…it’s so odd hearing Evie’s voice come through her and…I’m not really sure how well I’ll settle in without her.” He didn’t meet Ben’s eyes the entire time. “I just...you seem nice and…” He shrugged, then turned. “Forget it I just…”

        “Wait no!” Ben reached out and grabbed John by the arm. This was the best thing to happen! One of the villain kids was opening up; _willingly_ he was showing vulnerability and asking for help! He wasn’t supposed to be smiling, but this was great! John’s face twitched, but he managed a soft smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Tell me about your sister” Ben urges as he’s led away. John sighs, but he can talk about Jessie for hours and so he can keep the Prince distracted for Fabien.  As they walked away, John swayed slightly, hitting a shadow on the wall.

        “Well first thing is first, she’s a pirate, like our father and our older brother.” Fabien’s shadow moved his bed to get his attention and he looked up. He swung off the bed and gestured to his shadow, which detached and slithered out of the room. John didn’t jump as he felt the shadow latch onto his feet and suppressed the shudder at the feeling. Fabien, for his part, took the time to go find Mal as the sun started it’s decent.

 

* * *

 

_1:30 pm_

 

 

Mal, for her part, was not doing well.  She wasn’t seeing very well. She was crying, sobbing actually, which led to the not seeing very well. She had the presence of mind to jar her tears. Fairy tears were good for spells, and she had a lot now. She didn’t notice the shadow that slunk into the room. She _did_ notice when the arms encircled her and she heard gentle shushing in her ear. She would know the smell of cinnamon, books, and brimstone anywhere.

        “E-thar yer makin a hall ‘o a spell o som-in’s upsettin ya fierce.” Mal blinked a few times, allowing the black gloves to wipe away some tears.

        “Ben…” Fabien did a _very_ good job of not allowing his face to show what he really felt about his roommate. “Is wonderful. I mean…it’s great. I get strawberries and they taste AMAZING and the air is so clear here and the sun is so _warm_ I never knew it could feel like that! I can feel the magic swirling through the air. I’m learning so much in all of my classes and Evie’s really flourishing and Carlos doesn’t have to be afraid anymore and Jay is actually pretty popular and not like-Don’t trust that kid he’s one of the Rotten Core.’ But like ‘Hey, invite him to sit with us’ and-“

        “Ben did ahl that?” Mal blinked. Fabien was loathe to interrupt her. Her eyes practically sparkled as she talked about everything and it warmed his heart to see her so happy but…

        “Well yeah, Ben brought us to Auradon and didn’t send us away when he found out I put him under a love potion and he’s really nice and Jay made the team so-“

        “So…you jast did it a’g-in. Ev’rythin ya lyke ‘bougt is Ah-ra-don,  ya say-Ben.” Mal blinked. Did she…did she really? Fabien brought out the necklace, playing with it awkwardly. “Look Mal dar’in. It magh na be mah place ta say but, ya seem ta lyke what that bah can give ya ratha than him.” Mal frowned and changed the subject.

        “Who’s the necklace for?” She says as a distraction. Fabien frowned and tried to hide it. Hiding something from a villainous pickpocket was guaranteed that it would be taken out of his hand. “Is this for me?” She asked at once. Fabien bit his lip. The spell he had put on it meant that the love for Ben would transfer to him…at least the original spell. Voodoo might have warped it. Plus, it didn’t seem that she had an awful lot of love for him in the first place. So the spell might be…

        “WAIT!” Before he could stop her, Mal decided that she liked the necklace well enough and threw it on. The clasp vanished as it was closed and both her eyes and the locket glowed green for a moment as the spell activated. He froze, staring at the unmoving young woman, trying to figure out what exactly the spell was doing…if it was working…if it was doing worse.

        “I just” Fabien resisted the very real impulse to put a hand to his heart after her suddenly speaking after ten minutes of being unresponsive. “I got…really overwhelmed because of something I thought about earlier.” She shook her head and grabbed the jars, putting most of the tears in. She gave a full jar to Fabien. “Thanks for listening.” Her smile was more forced than anything, but it was still a smile. This…This was bad.


	7. It's not paranoia if they're out for you

Mal came into the room, wiping at her eyes and holding a satchel full of bottled fairy tears. Evie looked over and instantly got worried. Her phone appeared in her hands as if by magic and she was halfway through typing a text to Carlos. Mal rushed across the room to confiscate said phone before Evie could blow her crying way, _way_ out of proportion.

        “E. It’s nothing.” Evie pouted. “ _Nothing_ ” Mal said firmly. “I was just a little stressed out. I had a good cry, Fabien came and gave me a hug…he gives _really_ good hugs and I forgot that. But no matter. I’m better now.” Evie didn’t look convinced. “I’m _better_ ” Mal promised. “Now, we have to clean this place up for tonight. Evie flinched. Oh right, the full moon was today. Evie pouted, but looked at Mal hard as if to say the conversation wasn’t over. Though technically speaking…it was… Evie couldn’t speak.

 

It was about an hour later when Ben knocked on the door to their doom. It was terrible timing since Mal and Evie were in the process of packing away the lovely designs and more importantly, her sketchbooks into boxes. Evie was fretting, making sure everything was _just_ right. After all, it was her reputation on the line. And it was imperative that the stuff be safe.

        “Mal?” Ben asked as he opened the door. He stopped short at seeing the boxes. “Evie? Is something wrong?” Evie smiled at him, saying things he…couldn’t understand as she was just mouthing words without her voice.  “Um…E?” She blinked twice, understanding his…non understanding. She sighed and pouted but shook her head.

        “We have to get the room clear for Fabien” Mal explained. Ben frowned.

        “Well…whatever’s going on…he can do it in our room” He tried to reason. Honestly, he just…didn’t want Mal and her ex alone in a room. It was…that wasn’t odd was it? That he wanted to keep his stunning girlfriend away from the…not quite ex that knew her better and had grown up with her. Not for the first time, he was regretting bringing over the boy.

        “Ben relax. We’re just clearing out the room. You can come by when it’s done.” Ben didn’t move. Mal frowned. “Do you really trust me so little?” She asked. And OW, that was below the belt. He winced…then noticed something…tarnished. It clashed with her Aruadonian clothes.

        “The necklace is new” He commented. Mal smiled.

        “You like? I got it from…” She trailed off. Well, that was all he needed for who gave it to her. Ben gave a tight smile.

        “It’s nice” He said noncommittally. He was jealous, there, he admitted it, inside his own head where no one could find out. “I’m…gonna go. You all seem busy.” Mal gave him a quick kiss on the cheek to appease him. Evie smiled gratefully and Ben headed back to his room dejected.  

 

        If Fabien was awful, it would have been better. But…he wasn’t. The other boy seemed to keep o himself most of the time they were in their room. He read a _lot_ and often seemed to just be practicing his writing as he transferred his books onto other papers. He was also taking school seriously so the chances of him trying something evil were slim to none. He was trying to catch up to the class he’d been put in and so studied an awful lot. Ben…may or may not have been following him around to make sure he wasn’t dangerous. He also…hadn’t found much. He had a few conversations with Geneviève that Ben couldn’t understand…at all.  But even then, it didn’t seem like she was his favorite person to talk to. Ben sighed as he thought about the new batch.

        The Hook boy seemed…fine. He was quiet too, but he was _completely_ antisocial. Carlos probably wasn’t working on anything with him, and it wasn’t just the trust in Carlos that caused him to say it, the boy only ever spoke to Veronica, and even then, not often. He was usually only seen in the library. Other than that, he moved like a ghost, nowhere and everywhere all at once. He just seemed to walk quickly and silently so, that was that.

        Veronica was _perfect_. That wasn’t to say she was super into her studies or not causing trouble or anything- Audrey kept complaining about the magic being used in their room. Apparently, Veronica could go full cecaelia to use spells which…also explained how she got her side of the room decorated in so little time. Her ‘pet’ was an octopus that…Audrey was the only one to ever see and what’s more, she was _loving_ Evie’s voice and wouldn’t’ stop talking, usually with Jane.  Veronica was perfect because she managed to keep tabs on herself. She wasn’t doing anything evil, she was distracted and always had at least one other kid around her. She was the ideal villain kid, not getting into trouble. For every ideal, there was a massive problem.

        Geneviève Bientôt was in fact, that _massive_ problem.  While the other kids could at least be found reading or trying to make friends, Geneviève was almost always off campus. It wasn’t that she wasn’t allowed to be off campus, she was visiting her father which was fine…it was just that…she was never around. She was gone before Jane even woke up. She went to her classes, but it was a moot point as she didn’t speak English. None of the teachers were sure if she was actually aware of the information or if Fabien was just giving the correct answers for her. Almost as soon as class was done, she either went to her room or, if Jane was there, just left campus to visit her father. She showed up seconds before curfew, but didn’t go back to her room until lights out. Even then, she didn’t sleep. She spent the whole night working out.  Jane hadn’t been able to get much sleep due to the other girl shoving her bed against the wall to do pull ups, or using books as weights as she did pushups, or running around their room or…If anyone was doing evil, it was Gaston’s daughter. Fabien was probably helping as he understood whatever she was saying. She’d even made it so that Jane couldn’t watch her most of the time, often retreating to Carlos’s room to get some sleep during the day when the other was supposed to be in class.

        Ben gave one last and lingering look to his roommate as he left with John. He didn’t trust him, he _really_ didn’t trust him. Like, he was having a hard time putting into words the amount of distrust he had for the other boy. He wasn’t even really comfortable with sleeping in the same room as the boy, but it kept him from Mal so…

        “An-e rae-sn’ ya starin at me?” Fabien asked. Ben bit his lip and glared again before he went off with John. After all, John was willing to talk, though he very much wanted to keep an eye on…who he was sure was some sort of menace. With doubt in his soul, he left Fabien alone, but sent a quick text to Carlos asking him to keep an eye on the other. There was no response as he turned on his heal and went with John.

 

        It was odd; spending time with John…he was finding out a _LOT_ of information on Jessie. “How are _you_ liking Auradon?” He tried again. Again, John paused, as if trying to figure out what he should say rather than what he wanted to.

        “Well…it’s lonely. I miss my sister. If she was here…”

        “Yes, but…I guess, do you like your classes?” Ben tried again.

        “I suppose.” John shrugged. “Jessie would like history. She likes learning new information” Ben resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It was like pulling teeth. Actually, pulling teeth might be easier. The teeth weren’t’ borderline obsessed with their sister. That might have been rude, this kid was probably just worried about her. After all, from what he’d gathered, the Isle of the Lost wasn’t the best place to grow up, and now they were separated.

        “Do you miss your friends?” Ben asked. “Not _only_ your sister but your friends?” John frowned.

        “I…I…don’t really…” He started to trail and Ben sighed.

        “Speak to people other than your sister?” He guessed. Jeez, at least Veronica and her sister weren’t this bad! Actually, Veronica got quiet when asked about her sister, just smiling softly and shaking her head.

        “Jessie’s very…popular” John said with a smile, seeming to sense where Ben’s thoughts were headed. “She’s as loud and boisterous as can be and I’m…quiet, for lack of a better term. “ He shrugged. “All of the attention stays on her which is best for the both of us. So when you ask me all these things about myself, I can tell that it irritates you that I can’t say more than what my sister would do, but it’s a lot easier for me to think of my sister in any given circumstance.” Ben slowly nodded. John was just…unsure of himself without a strong presence at his side.

        “I feel that way sometimes” He announced quietly. John looked at him interested, so Ben continued. “I have two brothers, an older and a younger. Kankri, my older is…very diplomatic. He tends to think everything through…in the most annoying way possible. He’s a much better royal than I. So people defer to him with political things. My younger brother, Karkat…he’s…a bit abrasive, but he’s a good and loyal friend, a kind person. He’s a far better friend than I am. All I have is…blinding optimism and unbridled hope.” He chuckled at that. John gave a quiet hum and nodded. It was at that time that Ben noticed something terrifying. Well, terrifying to him.

        Geneviève was running laps around the track. Ben noted that it was odd because, well, the wind should have blown her hair from her face. He supposed it was the particular way her hair was bound in the low ponytail. But either way, Geneviève was running around and had been for some time if the sheen of sweat was anything to go by. Ben and John, who had been meandering along froze as they stared at her. Well, Ben stared in growing horror at Geneviève. John stared at Ben blankly. The gears in Ben’s mind were turning. Fabien couldn’t be with Geneviève because, here she was…and had presumably been for a while. This was terrifying because he hadn’t known she was back on campus. Which meant that Jane had lost track of her at some point in time. That meant she had been unaccounted for and there was no window of time for it. He was trying to stay as optimistic as always, he was…it was just that, well, the first kids had come and caused a bit of trouble, then gotten settled so it was the second batch’s try. Karkat and Kankri would have protested so badly but they wouldn’t have any problem with four a school year right? He sent a text to Carlos because maybe he knew where the missing girl had been. Instead he got that Fabien was on his way to Male’s room.

        “John this has been…great. We can talk about siblings more later but-“

        “You have to go make sure Fabien isn’t stealing your girlfriend.” John nodded. “I understand.” Ben ran off while John watched him carefully. The pirate returned to his room slowly, murmuring into his trusty tape recorder as he walked. This was…actually going better than he’d hoped.

 

Ben raced across the school as the sun was setting, granted-it could have been forever if that was his only indicator. Sunsets in the summer were nearly an hour long. Nonetheless he went as quickly as he could to Mal’s room. Maybe the fairy would know where the daughter of the man who had tried to kill his father had been all day. Even if she didn’t, it couldn’t hurt to keep her from being accosted by her ex. Well…her _not_ ex. He practically stalked to her room to make sure she was alright and knocked. The door was nearly ripped off of its hinges and filled with all 6’4 ft. of one Fabien Facilier.  “WHAT” Ben resisted the urge to jump back. The other boy seemed more than a little bit irritated to see him. His energy was contagious, in a bad way. Ben felt himself get angrier and had to resist snarling at the taller male.

        “I was looking for Mal, _my_ girlfriend. “ Ben felt himself puff up more than he consciously did it. Fabien’s lilac eyes narrowed at him, but he couldn’t stop. “And I’ll have you know that you aren’t allowed to be in a girl’s dorm room after dark.” There, that was a better reason to be here…it sounded less jealous at least.

        “Ih’s not daahrk yet.” He was technically right, but it would be dark in about three minutes, if not sooner.

        “It means after six” Ben scowled. “And I don’t feel comfortable with you-“

        “Ben?” Ben’s scowl grew worse. Mal had just saved this guy but he still didn’t like them so close, or the fact that they hadn’t broken up yet, or the fact that- “Ben what are you doing here?” Ben opened his mouth, ready to make some sort of excuse about needing to see her, to make sure she wasn’t harmed, to make sure she wasn’t having second thoughts…the ice in her eyes froze the words in his throat. He closed his mouth and tried to make words come out again…again, he wasn’t able to speak and just clamped his mouth shut.

        “I…I mean…I…uh, Mal I just…um…Is…is this guy bothering you?” That was possibly the worst thing he could have said. Mal’s glare got worse.

        “Is…my old ally…from the isle…bothering me?” She confirmed his question slowly and giving him lots of time to back away and realize how overboard he was going.

        “I…I mean um…” Ben took a deep breath and gave a sigh. “Is everything alright? You all seem, worried about the full moon”

        “Everything’s fine” Mal snapped at once, a bit too fast. Ben winced...so did Fabien. Mal growled slightly, then sighed. “Ben, we have a breakfast date _first_ thing in the morning. Fabien’s spending the night in my room” Ben opened his mouth to protest when Fabien groaned. Mal’s eyes narrowed at him. “Ben, Fabien needs me right now. I’ll talk to you tomorrow!” She pulled Fabien into her room and slammed the door in Ben’s face.

        Ben stood there, heart in his throat. Her ex was back and she was… No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t understand why they needed to spend the night. He reviewed the known information about Dr. Armand Facilier and…no, nothing about the full moon. He couldn’t resist the urge to listen, but even with slightly better hearing than a normal human, he couldn’t really hear anything, just…soft murmurings. He backed away from the door in horror and shoved his hands in his pockets, mind swirling, he didn’t realize where he was walking. He walked right into Evie. The princess took one look at his face and grabbed him, pulling him into the room with all of her current designs. She wasn’t Mal…but she was there, and she hugged him and pulled him down to her level and let him blubber a bit. That was a good thing about Evie, even if she’ had her voice…she wasn’t the judgmental type.

        “Evie I just…you’re sure that she cares about me?” Evie nodded gently, holding Ben’s face in her hands. He had horrible timing for his panic attack, but she could distract him for a night. She smiled tightly and took out her phone. She texted something that he couldn’t see, the next message the phone was turned to him.

 

_So…tomorrow night is great for both of us. No full moon AND I get my voice back!_

 

He managed a wan smile. Using her phone, Evie managed to give him enough cute animal pictures and jokes to keep him from fully breaking down. He broke his own rules. After all, Evie was kicked out of her room and Fabien’s bed was unoccupied. He shuddered as he tried to sleep, but all he had were nightmares about Mal and Fabien being alone. Evie couldn’t get to sleep either. It was summer and neither of them had classes so they ended up raiding the kitchens for some snacks. The two invited Carlos and Jane for a movie night. Surprisingly, they were able to wrangle Veronica, John, Doug and even Audrey. Jane was the only one that feel asleep, curled across Evie and Carlos’ laps. No one came out with their nails the same color as they’d started. It was an…alright end to a horrible afternoon.


	8. Quiet in the libary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry. I thought I posted this weeks ago! While I'm unfortunately not one of those authors that can have a set schedule, just know that I've got a LOT planed. Please bear with me. Thank you for waiting and for putting up with me this long.

Ben stared at the clock as he rolled over. He’d overslept. It was 9:30 in the morning as aside from Evie, who had somehow been on the bottom of the cuddle pile and extradited herself no problem no one was awake…Evie who was full dressed with her makeup on and seated on Fabien’s ben softly playing a video game. Evie who had likely been up since 6:30 just be proxy of who she was, Evie who would have woken Ben up when Mal came over at 8 for their breakfast date…wouldn’t she?

        “Evie?” Ben asked softly, not to wake the mass slumbering on his floor. The temporarily mute girl looked up with a gentle smile. “Did…Did Mal come by?” The crumbling of her face was all that he needed to know. “Oh…” He shook his head. “O.K I’ll go talk to her.”

 

* * *

                               

        Evie was still efficient. It only took 10 minutes for the beastly boy to shower and as he crept out trying not to disturb anyone, the room was cleared out. He got dressed for the day and went to his girlfriend’s room, arriving at 10 on the dot and knocking gently. The door opened, much as it had last night, to Fabien ripping it open, though differently this time. An instinctual growl was building in Ben’s chest, but died when he noticed the wide, frantic eyes, and the slight tremble.

It gave him a small amount of hope that Fabien was also dressed, though the other looked worse for the wear. His lip was bleeding which would have made Ben more concerned if not for the several impressive bruises blooming up on his skin. He was sure to have a black eye and there was also a bit of dried blood on his shirt collar, where claws had ripped through the fabric.  He was obviously exhausted; heavy bags under his eyes and he swayed slightly in the doorway. As much as Ben was threatened, he still offered his arm when the boy crumbled on the doorframe.

        “’Mornin” Even his voice was wrong. It was strained and scratched and rough in a way that was just… _off_.  Ben frowned.

        “Fabien hi…um…” He shook his head, how to word this. ‘What were you doing last night’ sounded too nosey and ‘Is Mal with you’ was an obvious one.

“Mal…missed our breakfast date. I was just coming over to check up on her” Ben nodded to himself He still didn’t like the guy, but he’d always had a soft spot for people that were in trouble or looked like they needed help. The cocky, confident, needling, smooth guy was very hittable. He couldn’t hate this broken, exhausted, kind of jumpy kid.

        “Bre’ um” The other boy attempted to pull himself fully upright…it kinda worked but not really. He was standing taller, but still slumped slightly…he was also still trembling. “Sarry, she’s…long niiat” Ben nodded.

       

        “I…I figured um…Are you okay?” He asked carefully. In his experience, Isle kids didn’t do great with asking for help or admitting they needed it. He didn’t need a repeat of Jay stealing random medical supplies because Carlos knew how to set a bone for some odd reason. Fabien just nodded, somewhat unconvincingly.

        “Ah’m jus fine ya highness. Happens ev’y full moon. Few people can help. Mal’s got the best odds a helpin.” He shrugged and Ben instantly felt terrible. Mal was helping him through whatever he had been going through last night and here he was thinking the boy was trying to steal away his girlfriend.

        “Is…is there anything that can be done?” He asked, trying to fix the misunderstanding far after it had happened. Fabien’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

        “Nothin more than what’s doin’ I suppose.” He shook his head. “’cuse. Ah’m late fr’ class n Ah’ve gotta stop by the rom firs” Ben almost mentioned how there was no class today but yeah…the new villain kids were catching up. So he stood to the side and allowed Fabien to pass. The other shuffled like a zombie for a few steps before he rose up, using the wall to balance as he strode off to class. Ben looked at the boy until a corner was turned and he could only see the top of his shadow. Ben turned to enter the room.

        “Knock knock?” He asked. There was a mound of blankets that he assumed to be Mal. This assumption was proven right when the mountain shifted and she popped out. Mal looked a lot better than Fabien had. Granted, that wasn’t very hard but still. She was also visibly tired, but much less so. She just looked like she hadn’t had a single blink of sleep. It was a lot easier to tell her emotions now and the wings that flopped over either side of the bed said that she was too tired to bother holding them in and also probably pretty annoyed. “Mal?” Ben asked as he approached. The venomous green eyes flashed as they turned to him. There was a beat, then the widened and she sat up.

        “SHIT BREAKFAST” She sat up and somehow looked both worse and better than before. She was also dressed, but her clothes were wrinkled and ruffled and her hair had managed to tangle itself _around_ her horns. Ben’s first snicker came through, but he manage to muffle himself before he burst into laughter as she sat up. Her hair had somehow managed to completely wrap around her horns. He gave her a quick was over as she scrambled up. Unlike Fabien, she wasn’t injured…which meant she was the one doing the injuring. Ben…wasn’t quite sure how to take that. On the one hand there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that if Mal had attacked Fabien the other boy had deserved it…on the other hand, the boy was _limping_ surely it hadn’t warranted all of that! And why hadn’t she just thrown him out of the room if a fight had broken out. Mal confused Ben a lot but…but this was a whole new level.

        “Mal” She looked at him, emerald eyes flashing.

        “I am SO sorry.” She started up again. Ben silenced her with the universal sign for ‘stop’ and a gentle smile.

        “Brunch date? In two hours by the Lake?” She gave him her own grateful smile.

        “Yeah…I’ll be there.” With that she shoved him out of the room so she could get ready. Ben smiled as he walked off to set up the picnic, unaware of the trouble brewing in the library.

 

        “I don’t understand” John said to the other three. “You didn’t even need the distraction. She got the necklace yesterday. Why aren’t we home yet?”

        “Well there was vodoo magic interfering with my spell” Veronica glared at a properly chastised Fabien. John’s glare could melt steel until she continued. “But his magic should be making the spell _stronger_.” She admitted. “We should have been headed home two seconds after she got it. The new spell transfers feeling and reason.”

        “Re-sa’n?” Fabien asked, lifting a perfectly plucked brow. He sat there, nibbling lightly on a slice of toast he’d stolen from the garbage. After all, if something was mostly eaten it couldn’t have been poisoned. Veronica nodded.

        “She’ll love you for all the reasons she loves Ben.” Fabien’s face fell.

        “Tha mig be a prablam.” He admitted. The other three looked at him. “Ah don thak she ri’htly loves the bay, just Ah-ra-don. Unfor’nitly. The Isle hasa lah less ta love.” There was a moment of silence.

        “We can’t stay here” Veronica said at once. “Fabien if the spell is making her love you like she loves the isle-”

        “Yes, Ah know, Ah jus made this way more compl’cated. Boo me”

         "Fabien c'est quoi ce bordel?" Geneviève got shushed by the librarian and grabbed by the others. She wasn’t having it. "Nous devons retrouver notre chemin. Je ne peux pas rester ici!"

        “Fabien, you’re going to fix this” John said, deathly quiet. “I’m _not_ leaving my sister there.”

        “Tha ahnly reas’n we’re in this pridicamit is caussa Brainless.”  He pointed out. Geneviève pouted but…he was right.

        “We have to somehow make her love the Isle more than Auradon.” Veronica seemed…almost squeamish. “What did she have there that she doesn’t have here?” The group thought about that.

        “Whale…sh’ has food here so…”

        "Ses amants et amis" Geneviève muttered.

        “Fabien…what are her weaknesses?” Veronica asked.

        “None” He said instantly. Veronica snarled.

        “Fabien, as someone who is constantly used _as_ a weakness I know for a fact that everybody has at least one weakness to exploit. We’re not trying to hurt her but we _need_ that weakness. Think of the isle and everyone on it. Think of your father. Gwen can’t function and the isle is dying, if you don’t careabout Gwen think about the people that need her. Not to mention Wonder Wall” Veronica had managed to find out what a hiss was and worse had tears in her eyes as she hissed at him. Fabien sighed heavily.

        “Mal has na weakness. Lessin you wanna go up again’t Empress Male’fi’c’t. She cares ‘bout her ma, her allies-na even all o’ ‘em, mostly da main group, her flava o the week, and her jacket….I wond’t reco-mend touchin the jacket.” Around the table faces fell. Geneviève shook her head.

         "Je refuse d'être coincé ici. Je ne peux pas être coincé ici. Gwen a besoin de moi, Gil a besoin de moi, Clay, les Gaston, Cossete, Karmen et Yimr. Je ne devrais pas être ici comme ça!" John snarled and threw a book at her.

        “Brainless SHUT UP! No one understands anything you say so just zip it.” He was frustrated. He had to get back to the isle, for his sister, for Harry and Eridan. Someone needed to run interference. Veronica perked up suddenly.

        “Shut up” She repeated, the light bulb over her head could almost be seen it was glowing so brightly. “Shut…up” She said it like it was some grand thing, the smile on her face growing wide. “SHU”T UP!” Fabien bit the bullet, sighing.

        “Wha’ ahn Earth ya talkin bout girl?” He asked. Her eyes nearly sparkled.

        “No one understands Brainless and she should just shut up!” She said again. She was bouncing now from the ‘obvious’ solution no one else could see.

        “Alrig’t…ya gonna need ta explai’n ya’self ta the idits not in ya head.”

        “Your Dad’s trinket!” She squealed. “The one that changes people with blood.” He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

        “Yes…Ah have it…how’s that gonna hel’ any?” Veronica was bouncing.

        “I have Evie’s voice!” She was giving it back today…unless.

        “Ah’ll grab it. Tell me when ya ready.” He looked over at John and Geneviève, both of whom were still lost.

        “What’s going on?” John asked.

        “We’re going home that what” Veronica shrieked. There were a series of ‘shussh’s around the library as the boys grabbed the over excited girl and held her down. “John?” He looked over at her. “You’re gonna have a new bestie for a bit.” John frowned, but said nothing. If it got him to his sister faster he’d be willing to put up with…anything.

        “What’s my job?” He asked.

        “Make Mal hat ‘im” Fabien smirked. “Shouldn’t be to haad. He’s alrea’y je’lo’s as all get out.” John nodded calmly.

        “So I’m just making him worse?” John asked. Fabien nodded roughly.

        “Mal loves har freed’m more n anahthin.” John nodded, understanding the plan. They couldn’t take away what she hated about the isle, just make Auradon itself unbearable. He wasn’t the best at it, but he was sure he could get inside the little prince’s head.

 

 

        “Now rememba, this is jus cosmetic. Ya aint gon gain any powas ya hear?” Geneviève nodded at once.

        “And you have to be completely quiet…all the time.” Veronica reminded her. Veronica hissed suddenly as her leg gave out, collapsing unto a wall. The other two stopped to check on the third member of the trio before continuing to walk to Veronica’s room with Audrey, only to see a mild problem.

 

        “BEN I’VE HAD IT UP TO HERE!” The three winced. On the one hand, Audrey had an impressive set of lungs. On the other, really? Now? “She’s made the whole room stink, she leaves everything lying around everywhere and LOOK at it in here” Audrey opened the door as wide as it could go. “It looks like a torture chamber which is ACURATE TO HOW IM LIVING!” The new fairy was screeching at the top of her lungs and covered in an oversized and hooded bathrobe. The back of the bathrobe was shifting from where her wings were fluttering with rage.

        “We have to do this somewhere else. If we can even do it today.” Veronica stared while Fabien rolled his eyes.

        “There has ta be som’ place beta ta do ya spell.” He said to Veronica.

        “Well I need to be at least a bit alone with Evie and Ben’s here so who knows where Mal is.” Veronica and Fabien looked at each other.

        “Brainless” Geneviève stood at attention. “Fetch.” Fabien ordered. “Call me when you find her.” The French girl nodded jerkily and ran off, hunting for the dragon. “Problm solved.” He grinned and held an arm out for Veronica.

        “No thanks. Walking is fine right now” Her smile was…forced to say the least. She looked tired and Fabien felt instantly awful. They’d been focused on the plan yes, but that was no reason to let her get this bad.

        “May-bah ya just need a b’eak.” He said softly. The other girl scoffed.

        “Glass of water and I should be alright. Besides, we don’t have time. We were supposed to be headed home already. You give necklace, spell takes effect, Mal tells Ben she wants to go home, we end up home. We don’t have time for my spell.” Fabien shook his head.

        “We all-ws have tyme fa that and don’t ya for’gt it. Sit” With that he forced the younger girl to rest against the wall while he looked out. On the isle Veronica hadn’t been able to use much magic. It was probably not the best for her when combined with everything else. Then again, for all he knew, using magic might have made it better…again, she hadn’t had the opportunity to really test theories. Fabien texted on his phone while Veronica attempted to catch her breath.

        “Alright” Veronica hissed. “We don’t have time for this. Yes, Evie’s not expecting her voice back for four more days but we don’t have that. We have to get back on the isle today.”

        “Weh can’t.” Fabien reminded her. “This‘s ahll been jus a mess. Ahn the plu’ side, less o a mess then it could be. Still.”

        “Still it’s going to make everything _worse._ ” She hissed out. Fabien scoffed.

        “How much warse can it ahcually get?” He asked. She had to concede that point. If it wasn’t bad they would have never planned this in the first place. She wouldn’t have dealt with Uma. She continued taking her deep breaths as John suddenly rounded the corner, armed with his open cell phone and a bottle of water.

        “Take it and get up” He scoffed, tossing the water to Veronica. “We don’t have time for your issues.” Veronica rolled her eyes, but drank the water in one sip. Fabien frowned.

        “Don’ let it hap’en ‘gain” Fabien ordered gently. Veronica gifted him with a smile as John helped her up… ‘help’ being a kind and relative term. John grabbed her by the bicep and tugged, dragging her unto her unsteady legs. The creepily pale girl fluffed up her matted white hair as she got her bearings about her. She scratched at her still dry throat and the new trio walked, this time to John’s room.

 

Carlos looked up as the group came in…Evie blinked at them as she couldn’t exactly voice her surprise as Carlos’ hand jerked and ruined her ruby red nails.

        “Shit! Sorry” Evie smiled as Carlos grabbed the acetone. “I wasn’t expecting you guys.” Evie gave him a pointed look. The white haired boy scoffed and gently rolled his eyes. “ _We_ weren’t expecting you. What’s the occasion?” Carlos knew something was wrong. The three of those particular characters shouldn’t have been hanging out together. Fabien and Veronica? Sure, they used to date. Fabien, Veronica and _John?_ John who was annoyed by anything not his sister? Veronica who couldn’t shut up since she got a voice? And Fabien who had been somewhat steadily avoiding him since they’d broken up? What the hell was this?

        “Well” John shrugged. “We found Evie” Everyone looked at him for this statement. Two sets of eyes were wondering why she needed to be found…two wondered why the normally somewhat intelligent boy had tried to blow their plan like that. John for his part, was pissed. Pissed that he’d neglected to think of this massive flaw in their plan. Carlos Deville. Well, if no one else would, he’d get rid of the little bother himself. After all, Brainless would be busy.


	9. Not according to plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO because Updating takes me so long I'm going to be doing it a whole new way. The chapter's are going to be a bit shorter and focus on one or two aspects of what's happening instead of everything that's relevant and going on. Hopefully they'll be easier to read as well. This should let me say chapters are being posted on a schedule. So Thursday or Friday I'll try to get another one to you. Here's hoping it goes better than the previous attempts.

Evie looked at the mirror appraisingly. It sounded too good to be true. Then again, it probably was. She was not only dealing with a pirate but with a sea witch as well. Neither of those things should be trusted, and Veronica happened to be on the crew of the wiliest of the Isle pirates. She looked back at Veronica. The confused look on the formerly mute girl’s face brightened with realization and she sent Evie a soft smile. She really should talk to Mal about this. That thought in mind she went to walk out of the door, but was stopped by the hand on her elbow.

        “Is that a yes?” Veronica asked, head tilted. Evie frowned and shook her head. Her mouth opened and closed a bit as she tried to speak but…well, she couldn’t. “Let me guess?” Veronica started. “I’m Uma’s sister and you don’t know if you should trust me…especially with our… _history_.” Evie bit her lip and nodded a bit. “Well, firstly, while I am Uma’s sister…I’m still Eridan’s accomplice, so there’s _that_ history to think on as well.” Veronica started “If it makes it any better, think of it more as a ‘thanks’.” Evie gave a blank look to that. “You didn’t have to lend me a _voice_ , which by the way thanks! You didn’t know it but…that lets me practice magic. I’ve never gotten a chance to practice my magic, not even cantrips. So…it’s the least I can do to say thank you.”  Evie looked at the mirror again. Her mouth formed a little ‘o’ shape.

 

It had been two days since the ‘incident’ in the room. John had said they were looking for Evie and Veronica had sprinted as fast as her failing legs could go. That was not a conversation to just spring…not at all, she needed to think. And so, two days later, after she had thought…here they were, in Evie’s room. And Evie wasn’t taking the very good bait. Veronica had to resist grumbling about it. Had everything gone to plan she would have _still_ been late with this. It was unacceptable. Luckily, she had lots of practice pretending to be pleasant, ever when no one could understand her.

        “So yeah…to say thank you, you get to be the first to try a big spell.” Evie still looked…apprehensive to say the least. Her mouth moved but, nothing came out. “Cause I saw it and I thought, this is _perfect_ for Evie.” Veronica produced the book from behind her back and showed Evie the spell. Evie had to admit…it was a cool spell. It would make her beauty as eternal as a mirror. That way they’d only start to fade after the mirror cracked. It was a little…genius actually. Her mother should have used a spell like this but…her mother was the reason she was hesitant. After what Snow had told her. “I can only do the spell before I give your voice back…which is, tomorrow” Veronica admitted. “It has to be done on land. I would have offered sooner, but I needed to _find_ the spell” Evie bit her lip and reached for the book. Veronica held it close to herself and blinked at the other girl. Evie pouted. It was _so_ hard needing to talk when you couldn’t talk….Actually, she just had a whole other wave of sympathy for Veronica. The purple tinted girl bit her lip a bit before handing the spell book over. “Please be careful. It’s survived a lot but it’s still really fragile and I don’t really have a lot of my mom.

 

        Evie looked at the book appraisingly. She wasn’t the best sorceress. Actually, she only knew simple charms. It wasn’t just because of the barrier stopping her from preforming anything to big…she just…wasn’t the best at magic. Even if she were, she wouldn’t be able to read this. The spell itself was Latin yes, but all the particulars were in old Mer. She could theoretically do the spell on herself but it wouldn’t be wise. Looking at it, she could tell that it was at least mirror magic so, the chances of Veronica lying had dropped drastically. That and Jessie didn’t lie. If the pirate captain had forbidden members of her crew from being violent, maybe it had extended to the truthfulness thing? Either way, Veronica looked like she was going to drop dead of worry, so Evie returned the book to the grateful girl. She took out her phone and typed a quick message.

 

_I have to think about it. I’ll find you sometime tomorrow. K?_

With a smile Evie left and Veronica let her this time…There was something very frustrating about needing to scream, not having the ability to, having the ability, needing it even more, and not being allowed to. But she couldn’t scream, not where Evie could hear her, and Evie had only just left, and it was Evie’s room and of _course_ she couldn’t scream here. It was a four day boat ride to and from the Isle of the lost. It was supposed to be four days to come, give Mal the necklace, and within twenty four hours they were all headed home. Nine days. If, and only _IF_ Mal wouldn’t take the necklace from Fabien she’d end up taking it on the full moon. Twelve days, at the most…Today was the twelfth day since they’d left the isle and the plan STILL wasn’t working. She needed to do this right, they needed to be headed home four days ago, but Evie was being difficult, Fabien couldn’t do his job with Ben in the way, and the spell had gotten flubbed. While things could have gone a lot worse, they could have also gone a lot better. She looked over the spell again. While she wasn’t the best at spell work, she had been able to practice potionering on the isle. Would a potion work better here? She closed the book and started off to her room where there were more books. Maybe a potion to make Evie more agreeable since she needed her to be willing and stand still for the spell.

 

        “Veronica” The fifteen year old looked up to see the current…well, he wasn’t quite the ‘bane’ of her existence but Prince Ben wasn’t making her life any easier right now. Still, she was great at slapping on a happy face, and it seemed that with this voice at least, smiles could be heard.   
        “HI! Ben right? We haven’t gotten a chance to talk much. I was going to put my book back in my room.”

        “WAIT. Um…” He coughed into his hand. “You…you can’t go in there right now. Audrey…has a guest.” She blinked and tilted her head at him. Everything from his body language to his voice indicated a lie but, she wouldn’t push. “How about _we_ talk instead, alright?” Her mouth clicked shut. She had a small thought of trying to break him up with Mal the old fashioned way, but she wasn’t exactly pretty enough to pull a guy away in an afternoon.

        “What did you want to talk about?” She asked, allowing him to walk her away from her room door.

        “General things, how are you getting settled? Any request forms for the next people to come from the Isle, why did you recommend Fabien?” She stopped moving to look at him for that one. His smile didn’t reach his eyes. Oh…OOOHHHH

        “Well, I knew Mal would be beside herself without him.” Veronica lied easily. “They were always so close. I mean, Mal’s dating three other people but she always, _always_ makes time for him.” Ben’s face did something odd there.

        “Mal’s dating three other people?” He asked. Now Veronica was the confused one.

        “Isn’t that why you brought over three of the four? So they all wouldn’t be lonely?” Ben’s brow furrowed.

        “She’s _dating_ Evie, Jay, and Carlos? I thought they were friends?”

        “What’s a friend” Veronica asked.

        “I need you to explain this to me very…what’s wrong?” Though Ben’s head was spinning, he was still able to notice when there was a problem. There was a _very_ big problem. Veronica was pale… _paler_ , the book had slipped from her hand, brittle binding breaking and a few frail pages fluttering out. She didn’t even seem to notice, her hands went to her throat and she started gasping, her legs buckling. It was all Ben could do to catch her before she hit the ground. “What’s happening?” He asked. An asthma attack obviously if the signs were anything to go by but… “Do you have an inhaler?” He asked instead. He’d never taken first aid, what did he do here?

        “W-tr” She managed to gasp, looking lost. “Need…” She had a coughing fit then and Ben moved her head so that there was nothing obstructing her airway. “Lake” She rasped out. That…didn’t sound right, but he bent down, picking her up easily and running her to the lake.

        “You left your inhaler here?” He tried. She was still gasping. She wasn’t turning blue so that was a good sign….then again, she was _purple_ so turning blue might be a good thing. She was pushing him weakly. He tried going that direction but she shook her head. She’d started shaking lightly and pointed in the rough direction of… “Water? If you want water um..” While it wasn’t the best thing to drink, the water of the enchanted lake wasn’t _dangerous_ per say. He gently placed her down by the bank where she could drink whatever she wanted. Veronica for her part, started to shakily crawl to the water. In a moment of understanding, Ben picked her up and walked the both of them in. He forgot however, about the whirlpool.

 

When Ben came too he was back on the grass, a good distance away from the Lake. “Well _that_ was stupid.” There was an instant where he almost thought it was Evie, then he turned his head to look at the sail wearing girl sitting next to him.

        “Are you alright?” He asked at last. She snorted.

        “I’m fine…thanks” She took a deep breath now that she could again. “I almost feel bad”

        “For what?” She blinked over at him. That particular phrase, she hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but she did…and this was a thing now. But she was loyal first and foremost, not like _Mal_.

        “You…looked really surprised with the fact that Mal’s dating the others” She said, instead of ‘you are gonna get really hurt’ which what what she actually felt bad for. Ben’s face did fall at the remembrance.

        “She…um…” He coughed. “She said they…they didn’t really date on the isle?” Veronica frowned. That wasn’t true. “That it was her first date?” Ben tried again…Veronica’s confused face made his heart sink. “She said dating was more like, gang activity?” He tried to give Mal the benefit of the doubt. Luckily, that was what sparked a look of recognition in Veronica’s face.

        “Yeah, gang activity…She’s dating her gang.” It was said so matter of factly that Ben believed it, but also that he knew that a lot of people must do it. It was said with the same certainty of grass being green. He sighed. He’d known there were going to be a few… _cultural differences_ when he brought Isle kids over, never mind when he started dating one.   

        “Mind explaining?” He asked, keeping his voice calm and his tone neutral. her brows furrowed thinking of the best way to explain dating to someone. 

        “Well, on the isle, everything is kinda like…ownership. You want protection, date someone. They own you and won’t let you get hurt. There are two different types of dating. You have the ‘I own you so no one can hurt you but me’. My sister does that with most of her crew.” Veronica chanced a look at Ben’s horrified expression. “She doesn’t” She scrambled. “Hurt her crew I mean, she’s dating them. Most people who do the ‘I own you’ aren’t dating, they’re parents. She just…she wants people to know the crew is under her protection so everyone says she’s dating them.” His face calmed down so Veronica herself calmed down. “Uma actually the best crew to be on in terms of the captain taking care of you. She’d _never_ hurt her crew.”

        “Is it because she’s so young?” He asked. Veronica blinked at that.

        “What do you mean?” She asked.

        “You said your captain was the youngest?”

        “Uma’s not my Captain. I’m on Jessie’s crew.” Ben blinked.

        “But Uma’s your sister?” Veronica nodded. “And she’s the best captain to work with?” Veronica nodded again. “Then…why?”

        “I love my sister, like, with all of my hearts and then some. But there are some things no one wants to deal with…like, a worried Uma. Just…no… _no._ Count me out.” Ben nodded.

        “I can weirdly understand that” He said instead.

        “The second type of dating is mutual ownership. I own you and you own me. That’s the one where you tend to be either dating or family…I mean, not parent family. Like Jessie and her brothers. The captain would do anything for the first and second mate and they’d do the same for her. But, they’re family. Sometimes, when emotions get involved they end up dating. Gang activity is that. You’re all mine, I belong to all of you, no one can hurt you or they have to deal with me.” Ben nodded.   

        “So when you say, Mal is dating her whole gang…It’s the second type? They own her and she owns them and emotions may or may not be involved? That…that made sense. He was able to breathe a bit easier, there was no cheating, ‘dating’ meant something different. That was why she’d said it was her first date, first Auradon style date.

        “No” Veronica said, instantly shattering all hope. “Mal exclusively does the first kind.”


	10. An inconvenient phone call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bet you didn't expect to see me! But I was telling the truth. Chapters will be updated Thursday or Friday for as long as I keep up with my writing. This story is also gonna be a bit longer than I thought due to the chapters being shorter.

        “Please Audrey?” Ben asked, annoying big brown eyes fluttering all the while. “You’re the only one that can do this.”

        “I still don’t like this” She snarled as she turned her back on him. He gently grabbed her arm, turning her back to face him.

        “Please?” Newly pink eyes locked unto brown and she knew in that moment that she lost this fight. She cursed internally. It wasn’t _fair_ that he could still do this to her. He wasn’t even trying and yet…

        “Fine” She pushed him away like she was annoyed. “If it’ll make you grow a _spine_ I’ll try and talk to the little freak.” Ben’s eyes were shining.

        “You’re the best!” He gave his childhood friend a squeezing hug and even brought a genuine smile to her face. She went into her room as soon as he was gone. She let the blanket slip her shoulders and her wings fluttered, able to breathe again. They drooped of their own accord as she tried to blindly grope for her phone. She crawled into bed and covered herself once more, curling into a small ball. He was gone, along with her weird roommate. So it was safe…she let herself cry. She sobbed thinking of the fairy tale that could have been…that should have been, childhood friends, rescuer, high school sweethearts. Now…The way she looked now no one would ever love her. Who was she kidding? Chad was being nice but couldn’t help himself after a bit, Sam was a disaster, Ben was supposed to be the one and stolen out from under her by the girl who made sure she’d never have a chance. She pulled out her cell. After Jane’s betrayal she only knew of one person she could actually trust.

 

The phone rang in the posh hotel of Monaco. Eyes blue enough to seem purple in the light gazed at it disinterestedly. After all, who was worthy of his time? He let it ring four times before picking it up. After all, he was bored as he waited.

        “Hello?”

        “Georgie?” His blood ran cold. Not many things could worry him, wrinkles were terrible for the skin. Even less things could anger him. He wasn’t a violent person by any means, just…letting them know he was better than they could ever be was usually enough revenge. A surefire way to make the boy both and _quickly_ , was this.

        “Audrey dear, what’s wrong?” He asked his best friend. He kept his voice even and smooth. She’d called the hotel instead of his cell because she hadn’t been sure on whether or not they needed to talk. That was red flag number one. She was crying. That was flags two through five. At around flag three…he tended to get _pissed_.

        “Georgie I don’t know what’s wrong with me” She was sobbing. His arms legitimately ached to wrap around her. His knuckles ached to be in the face of whoever caused it. He took a deep breath. Violence and tears both were unbecoming.

        “Ben again?” He asked diplomatically. He fished his cell out as he spoke on the hotel’s phone.

        “UAGH!” There was the sound of her blowing her nose. He winced. “He’s just impossible. It would be one thing to break my heart and leave me be but NO! He’s coming to me and asking for favors, and smiling at me, and batting his stupid eyelashes. ‘ _Please_ Audrey’ ‘For _me_ Audrey’ ‘I _need_ you Audrey’ It Just” Another sob. “How am I supposed to move on in peace?!”

        “Move on” Georgie snapped. “You’re hot. The best way to get over one guy is to get _under_ another” There was a choking sound. “It’s a confidence booster. You did it with Chad”

        “I didn’t _sleep_ with Chad. We had an agreement. We were going to keep each other from being single. Then that blue bitch hypnotized him and we broke up afterwards ‘cause he can do ‘better’” Georgie scoffed.

        “He must be dreaming. Are you sure she didn’t slip him an apple.” That got a laugh, good. “What did prince passive need to borrow your spine for this time?”

        “One of the isle kids only speaks French and anyone I could foist her off on is away for the summer.”

        “Ugh. I hate to agree with the jackass but you really _are_ the only one that could help there.” She groaned.

        “And to make it worse, another kid they brought over speaks it too and those two are definitely up to something. I don’t know what, I don’t really _care_ what. She said something about going back home so I’m not stopping it whatever it is. Georgie nodded, then realized his bestie couldn’t see him.

        “Well, if they go back then all your problems get solved. Though it was fun chatting with blue about fashion.” He couldn’t see her, but her sigh indicated a rolling of the eyes.

        “They gave me permanent problems.” He rose an eyebrow. Well that sounded…melodramatic. Though, Audrey tended to be a melodramatic person, the evidence was piling up that in this one particular instance she might not be exaggerating. She didn’t call as often, she wasn’t using face time, she was crying. Whatever happened it was more than her being bitter, it was _BIG._

        “So…ice cream?” The question was purely rhetorical. They got frozen yogurt when they were just bitching about life. When it was something big, they stopped worrying about their figures for a bit.

        “Think your mom’ll mind if we just, skip the first few weeks?” Georgie scoffed.

        “ _I’ll_ mind. Can you even imagine how behind on gossip we’d be if we missed that much time.”

        “True” She sighed. “Shit”

        “What?”

        “There was a knock on the door. It hasn’t been good news lately.” He groaned as well.

        “Good Luck dear.” She gave one last sniffle.

        “See you next month” She pouted. He hung up the hotel phone and called with his cell. There was a bit of a wait as the call went through. International number and all that. Wait, what time was it where she was?

        “This had better be _important_ Georgie. I was in the middle of a shiatsu.” He shivered slightly at the cold voice of the scariest woman on earth. His manager was not to be trifled with.

        “I want to go back to school as soon as possible.” There was nothing for a moment or two, then she sighed so hard he feared she might dislodge a rib.

        “I thought we discussed what a stupid idea that was and decided on you extending rather than shortening.”

        “ _We_ didn’t discuss anything mother. You had a one sided conversation and came to a decision.”

        “Then the decision has already been made. Why are you bothering me again?”

        “I want to go back to school as soon as is possible!” He didn’t mean to shout. Really he didn’t. All he wanted to do was make his stance clear. However, the sharp intake of air from the other end of the line didn’t bode well, neither did the oppressive wave of silence that followed. When Georgette spoke again, it was in a deadly whisper.

        “Are you… _arguing_ with me?” She demanded. Georgie bit his lip, but straightened his spine as if she could actually see him. Which might be possible, he wouldn’t put it past her to monitor him so that he stayed on his fitness regimen.

        “Mother…I don’t make a lot of friends. “Not a lot of _real_ friends. Audrey has been with me through thick and thin. Every bad boyfriend, she was there to threaten him. Every breakup I thought would tear out my heart, she was there with fro-yo and nail polish. Mother, something is happening at that school and I don’t know what, but I know my best friend is _crying_.” She scoffed.

        “Audrey’s dramatic. It’s nothing you can’t deal with in a month. Maybe three if we get the extension I was talking about.”

        “Mother” His voice held a slight quake to it. “I am not going to be able to be my best losing sleep over this.”

        “Is that a _threat?”_

        “Mother…you don’t know Audrey like I do. This is an actual problem and I just…need to see her for myself.” His breath was coming out a bit quicker and his face was starting to redden. If there was one thing he hated it was being treated…like this. Like an insignificant child.  She tended to treat him like this and it was…fine. She was his mother, it was her right to treat him like this. But this time…it…it couldn’t happen like this. This time she needed to listen to him, it was important. “I have been running myself ragged from show to show, shoot to shoot, and I haven’t complained. Not even once. I just…want to go see her as soon as possible. Put me on the next commercial flight please.”

        “Now you’re just being ridiculous” She sounded pissed. Please don’t be pissed. “Your face? On a plane with plebeians? The scandal. I’ll send the jet for you when I’m done with vacation. I don’t know when that is, but start packing. I won’t let it waste fuel idling around as it waits.”

        “Of course mother. Thank you so much mother.” She sniffed.

        “Be grateful that friend of yours happens to be beautiful. I want her to model for the De’Reis line. So it’s good that you like spending time with her. Get me her face Georgie, for me to even _think_ of forgiving this.”

          “Yes mother” He shivered at the order. It couldn’t be too hard to get Audrey to give up next summer vacation. He was after all, her favorite person. He started to pack up and thought about if he should send her a text to let her know he was coming back. In the end, he decided against it. Surprises were always better…that and he didn’t know how much of a bitch his mother planned on being. She might extend her vacation another month or two.


	11. Cause of distraction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said Thursday OR Friday, I'm not late yet...I might end up late soon because life is being...Life, but I'll try not to be. If you like the story, could you drop a comment or kudos? It makes me feel a lot better and less like, everything's going into an ether. Thank you for reading!

        “Carlos?” The boy with dual toned hair looked up, confusion evident on his face. It wasn’t that he wasn’t used to being called. He wasn’t used to being called as of _late._ Mal only called when she needed him, Jay was gone, and Evie couldn’t call him. So he was a little confused hearing his name. After the initial confusion died down, there was _worse_ confusion at who had called him. He would have understood Fabien. After the break up they had been…amicable enough. But John? John Hook? He started compiling an internal list of what might have happened to his sister or what he did that pissed Jessie off and warranted retribution from her guard dog. “Carlos” He blinked and realized that he’d been zoning out long enough for John to cross the room.

        “Yeah, sorry.” He shook his head. “What’s up?”

        “I have a class on the third floor and I don’t know where the bathroom is. I might need it.” That…that…Carlos blinked.

        “Um…where on the third floor is your class?” He asked. He was way too nice. What he should have said was. ‘Why are you talking to me’ or ‘why the fuck does that matter?’ but…he didn’t. John raised an eyebrow, maybe wondering himself why Carlos hadn’t gone with a better answer.

        “I’ll show you.” John turned and started to briskly walk away. Carlos practically threw down the game he’d been playing to follow after the pirate. John was one of those kids that…you just did what he said. He wasn’t very outwardly intimidating, in fact, he only tended to even threaten people if his sister was involved. There was just _something_ …off about him. Something genuinely unsettling in the way he looked at you.

        “Can you slow down?” Carlos asked as John scaled the railing. He caught up to the other boy on the third floor where John had reached and then abruptly stopped. “John?” The other boy was slumped on the wall and taking deep breaths. Carlos went to check on him, but when his hand went out to touch John’s shoulder, John rolled off the wall and moved like he was going to corner Carlos instead. You didn’t survive the isle of the lost without knowing how to defend yourself. Without the machete he normally used Carlos threw his arms over his face and braced himself for whatever was thrown at him. He wasn’t expecting the scoff.

        “Is there something I don’t know about?” John asked, looking over at the braced boy with vague amusement. Carlos tried before he figured that he wasn’t going to understand what the pirate was hinting at.

        “What?” He asked, defeated.

        “You’re in a defensive stance…you thought I was going to hurt you. My question is…why? Did you steal something from me? Did you hurt someone I care about? Are you plotting against me and you think I found out?”

        “NO!” Carlos finally found his voice and interrupted John’s little tangent. The kid spoke with a…not quite monotone, but a lack of the _important_ inflection where it mattered. Granted, that could have just been due to the posh accent but…still. He sounded ambiguously amused and it gave Carlos the vibes of a serial killer playing with their victim. “You just…you’re creepy.” John scoffed.

         “Like I haven’t heard _that_ before.”

        “Did you even need to know where the bathroom was?”

        “Of course not, I’m kidnapping you.” Carlos’ first thought was terror…then he remembered that he was from the isle of the lost and that Aruadonians and Isle kids used the same words to describe very different things.

        “Firstly, this is a terrible kidnapping attempt. I know where I am, we’re in the open, I can easily get away.” He shook his head, amazed at how sloppy John was. Then again, John had no real reason to care. Carlos wasn’t a very physical person and he knew for a fact John had weapons on him, not that anyone would find anything the pirate didn’t want them to.

        “This is a courtesy kidnapping. The real kidnapping is later if I need to.”

        “Please don’t.” Carlos sighed. “We’re sharing a room. Why do I need a kidnapping? Just trap me in the room if anything.”  A ‘courtesy kidnapping’ was more of a…forced rsvp. It was ‘try not to plan any events because you won’t be allowed to go to them.’ “We can just hang out. What’s wrong?” John frowned then.

        “Not here. We’re out in the open.” Carlos resisted an eye roll. Though to be fair, John probably didn’t trust anywhere open with secrets considering who his sister was. “I just…I need advice and you are… _uniquely situated_ let’s say, to help me with this particular problem.” Whelp, if John _did_ dismember him at least he had some chocolate before he went.

        “Sure…after your classes?” Carlos asked. John gave a short, jerky nod. Then he turned on his heel to head to class as Carlos massaged his temples.

 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

        “I still don’t know why you wanted to hang out.” Carlos said. He didn’t mean to be distrustful of John but…it was a bit hard. John was…an enigma to say the least. He never spoke to anyone outside of his crew, even then, mostly his sister. He was pretty sure half the crew barely knew his name and he was also pretty sure that the kid had a few screws loose.

        “I need advice” John said calmly. There was a long pause as Carlos waited for him to elaborate. He finally made a ‘go on’ gesture, which caused his roommate to sigh heavily. “I…” He looked away. Carlos blinked. It wasn’t often that John made himself vulnerable. He seemed embarrassed wow…

        “You…” John looked up, his eyes were intense, but they always were. “You don’t really know how to function without your sister do you?” John took a deep breath.

        “She usually helps me with this. However, Gwen also does this. She showed Jessie how to and, you are found around Gwen.” Carlos’ eyes widen.

        “You’re injured?” He asks at last. John nods. “Well you know…they have other Gwens. Like, Auradon Gwens.”  John scowled.

        “I’m injured in a way they can’t fix.” Carlos raised an eyebrow. “I don’t trust heroes. Not with important things” Carlos gave a deep sigh, though he couldn’t fault him. John sighed and, with a weary look, stripped off his shirt. Carlos took a step back, mouth falling open. John had red wrapping around his chest. Red would be bad enough, but it wasn’t bright red…it was dark, nearly brown. Carlos’ breath caught. He grabbed his phone and his machete, calling Mal instantly.

        “Carlos?”

        “Mal, I need your thieving skills.” There was a pause. His heart clenched in his chest as he waited for an answer.  After what felt like forever        

        “C, I’m waiting for the list.” Carlos sighed in relief, then tried to remember the exact things she had used on the isle. He wasn’t quite Gwen, but you don’t work close to someone for years without picking up a few of their tricks.

        “How long?” he asked. John shrugged. “Please…please don’t tell me that the advice was how to do this yourself.” 

        “Until I’m back with my sister I should know how to patch myself up.” Carlos sighed. “But no.”

        “Do I _want_ to know how long you’ve bleeding?” John looked away. Carlos started then, carefully slicing away the ruined bandages and peeling the bloody mess off.  Mal popped up after a half hour, a satchel of stolen shit. Carlos took the stuff from her and she dutifully left as he started crafting. John sat, poking at the tender skin. What had started as a simple broken rib had turned into a mottled scar down his side where it had been poked in. Though the initial injury was old, it had popped back out after he’d rolled over in the night. While it was not as long as Carlos had feared, he’d still gone to class with naught more than the bandages winding around his chest. It said a lot about both his acting ability and how much attention was paid to him that no one had noticed all day. Though he was positive his sister would have noticed, it gave him a lot of information for the day.  Ben was busy staring at Fabien. He wanted to make sure that the other boy wasn’t trying to steal his girlfriend. Evie would be a bit of a problem, he hadn’t been able to observe her during her normal behavioral patterns. But they were also trying to separate her from Mal. Mal herself had the necklace, that was already done. Jay was gone, the ass, as if he’d known. Carlos had to be kept away from the girls, but he seemed to be close to that dog of his. So that was the angle that John attacked.

        “The advice I was asking for.”

        “Please don’t talk for a bit” Carlos whimpered. “Just…take deep breaths so I can make sure I did this right.” John obliged and the now white gauze lifted with every breath. Carlos watched with eagle eyes, making sure there were no more red spots. After a few minutes he was satisfied and returned John’s shirt. “Okay, advice on how to bandage yourself? Don’t. Let me do it.” John scoffed.

        “Not quite what I was asking but alright.”

        “Oh.” Well, now he was embarrassed. “What were you asking?”

        “You were right…I’m don’t really… _know_ how to function without my sister…but…you function without yours and you’re fine.” Carlos’ blood ran cold. His sister. Shit. He….Carlos coughed. “You…on the isle I understood. You got regular reports. Off though…” There was a long pause and tears welled up in Carlos’ eyes. This…he didn’t want this. “I can’t help but wonder” John continued. Carlos’ heart was in his throat. “If…you were distracted.” The white haired boy opened his mouth to defend himself, but before he could, John cut him off. “Would you mind teaching me about your distraction? He might make me feel a bit better?” Carlos’ mouth shut with a click. His eyes finally followed to where John had been staring.

        “Dude?” He blinked looking at the dog in the corner, then back at his roommate. “Yes…YES! That…um, he is…really distracting” Carlos admitted. In actuality _everything_ had been distracting. Trying to steal the wand, then going good, plus school work, tourney, yeah taking care of Dude, but… new friends, new enemies. It had all been a big distraction. But he was nowhere near as codependent with his sister. “Here Dude” The dog obediently trotted over to his master. Carlos picked up Dade and sat down next to John. “Here” He tried to show John how to properly cradle the dog. John gave a wan smile. It didn’t reach his eyes, but it was more than he usually did.


	12. Une discussion en français

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This chapter involves two people speaking French without anyone that doesn't understand them around. With that in mind, everything after the break is all french. PI hope everyone is enjoying so far. The new chapter breakdowns are letting me get this out to you a lot faster. That being said, please comment and kudos, it lets me know people actually like what I'm writing and what I can improve on. Thank you!

        “ _What?”_ Audrey demanded as she threw the door open. As expected, it was bad news. The French girl…whose name she hadn’t bothered to get, was standing there looking a cross between confused and worried. Ben was standing behind her, smiling as he pushed her forward.

        “Bonjour, Audrey était-ce?” Audrey scowled. It caused the other girl to laugh. “Vous savez, vous regardez aussi heureux de me voir que je suis de vous voir..”  Audrey scoffed, but couldn’t hide the slight pulling on her lip. She hated this bitch on principal, but it was nice just hearing her language. Especially since she couldn’t go home right now.      

“So what exactly am I supposed to talk to her about?” Audrey asked Ben. “You…you can understand her right?” Audrey rolled her eyes. “ Il n'oublie pas que le français est ma langue maternelle”  She scoffed. Dating for nine months and he either never learned or forgot immediately. But she wasn’t _biter_ or anything. Ben himself proved that her ire wasn’t in vain as he looked impressed by her. She rolled her eyes. “So, I…I’m gonna leave you guys alone. Audrey, just talk to her, make a friend…try to convince her not to go through with whatever evil plan she’s been vanishing to do.” Audrey leveled a glare at him at glanced at the girl. By the mildly amused look on what was visible of her face, she understood English even if she couldn’t speak it. “I’ll stand guard so no one interrupts. His smile reached his eyes and everything…poor Ben. He really thought this was going to work.

 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

        “Come in” Audrey ordered. The girl, for Audrey had already forgotten her name as well as which freak she was related to, entered far more demurely then Audrey would have thought. She looked around the room, her visible eye widening as she gave a low whistle.

        “Veronica?” She asked. Audrey nodded and pulled out a chair. She might have hated the other girl, but she wasn’t a savage.

        “Who are you again?” Her voice was raw from crying and she covered herself back up with a silk bathrobe. It didn’t do much for hiding her ‘skin issues’ but it did manage to cover and conceal her wings. The villain girl gave a smile far kinder than any Audrey would have thought one of _them_ capable of producing.         

        “My name is Geneviève” The girl said brightly. Audrey’s scowl got worse.

        “Alright, why do you only speak French?” She demanded. Rather than make the girl nervous, the obnoxious ball of sunshine stayed smiling.        

        “Well, LeFou speaks French, so I learned French growing up.” Audrey nodded slowly. Well, that answered whose kid it was. Hanging out with LeFou meant Gaston. And there went the neighborhood if _he_ of all people had a kid and especially if Ben was allowing said monster into school.                                          “And why do you keep running off? You’re scaring Ben.” Geneviève blinked a few times.

        “I’m sorry…is this an interrogation?” It was Audrey’s turn to blink confused. “He said make a friend. Now granted, not a lot of kids from the isle know what that word _is_ let alone what it means so I could be going off the wrong definition but that’s not what I think of when I think ‘friend.’ I mean, I only have two people I use that word on and he doesn’t ever act like this. _She_ does, but…she’s different. She acts that way to everybody.” Cue more blinking from the fairy. Geneviève smiled brightly as Audrey stared her down. “She’s always angry? But actually really sweet when you get to know her. Only no one gets to know her because she poisons everybody.” Slowly, the brunette’s grin started to falter.  “Most isle kids don’t use the word friend. Did you want to be allies? Or did Ben want you to be my ally? I can’t think of any reason for that though, he doesn’t seem to want us doing evil, not that he can really help it but it’s in our nature I suppose…well, more like in our nurture. We don’t…um” Geneviève looked uncomfortable, which was what Audrey wanted.  “I’m rambling aren’t I? Shit….Fuck…I um….”The villain girl had scooted to the back of the chair and was kicking slightly, the heels of the boots dragging across the floor. Audrey went to bitch about them causing scuffs when she noted the odd way they were made.

        “Your shoes…” She trailed off as her head tilted, looking at them more carefully. Geneviève got _more_ uncomfortable, by her shoes? “Why do you need to be that tall?” Geneviève was stressed. Audrey was a little happier about that. She liked the slight power rush she got when someone was scared of her. Not enough to qualify as _evil_ of course…just enough to make people think twice about crossing her for the sake of their social status.

        “I’m visiting my father” The villain girl said instead. Audrey blinked. She had forgotten she was supposed to be mining for information. That was one way to get it…and Ben _had_ said to make a friend so…

        “Don’t worry about the shoes. I only noticed ‘cause I like fashion.” As she spoke she gave the other girl a once over. The vest, though shapeless on bottom did make her tits bigger, though it was almost 80’s shoulder pads levels of puffed out. The shoes had a false bottom that was only seen due to the fact that the girl was currently sitting down. Half of her face was covered by a fringe best left in the grunge era and…Audrey was internally writing all this down to spill with Georgie later.  Though… Audrey’s eyes narrowed. Her arms were really short. By her shoes it looked like she had another foot of height for no reason…but her arms… judging by her arms her shoes were giving her _way_ more than a foot. “How old does Ben think you are?”                                                            “W….What do you mean?” Audrey raised her eyebrow.

        “Look, I’m not an idiot. You’re proportions don’t match up. As scared as Ben is, he thinks you’re older, with little chance of rehabilitation. “You look _wrong_ ” Geneviève flinched at that.

        “The paperwork probably says I’m seventeen.” She admitted.

        “What? Why?” Audrey asked.

        “We aren’t really good with English. One of the only numbers Gil can say is seventeen. He knows how old I am and it’s bigger than ten so…the next biggest number he knows how to say in English.” The brunette looked down then, kicking her heels.

        “Do I _want_ to know how old you are?” There, Geneviève just shrugged.   

        “I actually don’t know.” At Audrey’s flat look she continued. “I do a lot on the isle, I don’t really have the time to remember. LeFou does that. He knows when our birthdays are and how old we are.”

        “You and Gil?”

        “Yup!”

        “Is he your brother?” Geneviève looked confused, which in itself was confusing as she’d been asked a yes or no question. “What the hell? Is that too simple for you?”

        “Ummm, Gil is… _Gil_. I’ve never had to refer to him as anything. He’s my…Gil.”

        “Your boyfriend?” Here Geneviève laughed so hard she almost fell off the chair.

        “Me? Dating Gil” She chortled. “Oh my gods! Oh evil that’s hilarious! No, Never, never in a million years. We…we aren’t each other’s type. And even if we were, it’d be too weird.” The brunette shook her head. Though her hair flopped all over the place, her shaggy bang always stayed in place even as the rest of her hair was a mess. It must have been the way it was cut. “His type is more, unattainable, powerful, leader who knows how to cook...bonus points for crazy. My type is…well, sweet and strong.” She blinked. “Not that he isn’t sweet and strong but…I’d prefer a… _different_ type of sweet and strong.” Audrey tilted her head and stared for a moment before deciding that she didn’t actually care.

        “How about we speak frankly? I won’t rip you to shreds for Ben and you don’t pretend I actually care about…you.”

        “You…don’t?” Audrey scoffed

        “Mal did this to me” She said, indicating her pink skin. “And you said you’d be out of my hair. Take her with you and I say good riddens.” Geneviève was quiet for a long moment, then.     

        “So…do you wanna help a bit?” Audrey blinked. She was not under any circumstances evil. She would never be evil. She didn’t have a single evil bone in her body, even though the way she looked right now was ALL different types of evil. …She bit her lip.

        “It’s nothing extreme” Geneviève said, as if sensing her trepidation.

        “What _exactly_ would I have to do?” She asked. Here, Genevieve’s eyes lit up.

        “Actually we would need you to do two, very, _very_ easy things. Change to room with me and then pretend that I’m always here.” Audrey blinked.

        “Am I allowed to know _why?_ ” She did want to get rid of Mal, but she wasn’t sure about this.

        “I have to go undercover. Look, we want to be back home as soon as possible. We _have_ to be back home as soon as possible. We have to make Mal hate it here so she comes back with us, and to do that, I need to be missing a lot.” Audrey bit her lip again, considering. “AND! If he comes in the room to find me you can say I’m visiting my dad or working out. He’ll believe that.”

        “Will anyone get hurt?” Geneviève snorted.

        “At most, their feelings.” Audrey nodded.

        “And why do you even _want_ Mal back?”

        “We need Maleficent. Some, really bad things happened. I was the cause of one of them. But…” She sighed. “Maleficent was able to use the magic she had stocked up before going to the isle while she was there. Without her…without that small amount of magic…a lot of people are in danger of dying. But if Mal goes back she’ll be one step behind her and we can save everyone before it’s too late.”

        “Why don’t you just _tell_ the two of them what you told me?”

        “Um… _evil?_ If we here, come to this place soon to save everyone we automatically think ‘trap’. We have to make _Mal_ want to leave. We were actually supposed to be back already.

        “Wait what?” Audrey groaned. Mal should have been gone already?

        “Yeah. Jay was supposed to be here and I’d make him guilty enough to go back, Evie would get blackmailed by Jessie, Carlos would follow Jay, Veronica’s presence would antagonize Mal and Fiona would slip her a necklace to make her fall in hypno love with Fabien so he could walk her away.” Audrey rolled her eyes.

        “Well John isn’t in that plan, there’s no Jessie, no Fiona and even though she’s got a new necklace she’s still with Ben.”

        “Yeah…the spell got botched. And no Jay means I’m useless, and they picked up the wrong twin.”

        “HA! No wonder good always triumphs. Your plans need everything _just_ so.” Audrey thought about it. “Well, according to Ben you _are_ always gone. When you’re here we can just chat then. Fine. I’ll ask for the roommate swap."

 

 

Geneviève was smiling then. Before anyone knew what was happening she pounced. Of the thing’s Audrey expected, being suddenly hugged wasn’t one of them. Neither was she expecting (though she should have) that Gaston’s daughter was built like a brick shithouse.


	13. Smooth talking and apple picking

“Mal!” The purple haired girl looked up at the boy that was moving, swift and silent as a shadow, down the hall to her.

        “Fabien.” She nodded to him. While he had helped her out of a moment of weakness, she’d given him a vial of fairy tears for the emotional support so they were even. Her head bowed back down to her phone to continue texting with Evie.

        “Ah wanted ta thank ya. Fer…ya know full moon” She waved him off.

        “I always do that” She pointed out. His bruises were still fading. It was lucky for him that he healed fast, otherwise his skin would always have blemishes. Then again, it was also lucky for him that he had illusion magic.

        “Nah al’ays.” She looked back up to him, his eyes were downcast and he was shifting awkwardly. “You…ya haven’t been ‘round lately.” Mal looked away. The full moon was always, a _trying_ time for him. She almost felt bad. She’d just gone and left him to deal with it on his own.

        “Have you been alright every month?” She asked despite herself. He shrugged.

        “Needed ta… _bounce_ arahund fer a bit t’ere. Fiona’s nah to nice ta ‘everyone.”  Mal winced at that. It had to suck, having a sister that violent or one that protective, never mind both. There were times, when she was younger, she wanted a sibling…then she’d met Fiona and…got over herself.

        “How do you think it is with you off the isle?” She asked genuinely. He thought for a bit, then shrugged.

        “Ah don’t know. Anyt’in from ‘Same as al’wys or…real dif’rnt” He stopped, considering. “How ‘bought you? Too dif’rnt?” Mal realized then that this would be a longer conversation then she thought.

        “I want to sit. Especially if I end up…” Her words stopped, voice refusing to even admit she’d been crying. “My room?” Fabien’s eyes widened imperceptibly. He knew for a fact that Veronica was trying to implement plan B of ‘the plan that should already be done’ in the room with Evie right now.

        “Ah couldn’t intrude on a lahdah’s space tha’ way.” He shook his head. His room was out because no one had tabs on the prince and he was checking to see just how hard this mission was going to be.

        “How about the Lake?” She suggested, eyes wide. “It’s so pretty there. That’s where Ben took me for our first date.” Fabien nodded, a small smile on his face. He genuinely did like seeing her happy.

        “Laa’e it is. I ‘idn’t know ya laked wata” She frowned, thinking of the water on the isle.

        “Well, this water has less…awful company around constantly.” Fabien valiantly tried to resist laughing at that…he failed, a snort working its way out of his throat.

        “Ahnes’ly, tha pirat’s ‘re anly as bad as ya make em. And _you_ caused most the issu’s there. I mean rally, goin’ fer _Veronica_ ” He shook his head. “I ain’t sayin she much betta but both o you got issues there.” Mal made a face as Fabien shook his head. “Pullin teeth is ‘sier than you admittin when ya wrong” He chuckled and gave her a playful nudge. It pulled a reluctant smile on her face. As they spoke Mal had started automatically to walk toward the lake, not even thinking twice about it. Fabien followed, trying to make sure that nothing that would hurt the plan even further occurred.

 

* * *

 

 

Evie walked out of her room and to the kitchen to get a snack. Was it safe leaving Veronica in there alone? Probably. The girl couldn’t exactly do much damage, even with a voice and to top it off, she wasn’t as spiteful or vindictive as her sister. Nor was she as violent and irrational as Eridan. That and she was trying to say thanks in her own weird way so she was probably leaving everything alone. She took out her phone to alleviate her worries by texting with Mal as she grabbed a few apples from the kitchen and started to walk back to her room.

 

All that talk of spells had reminded her that she needed to curse a few apples. Not for anything _nefarious_ it was just always good to have a few of them lying around. She’d been keeping it quiet from Ben. He wouldn’t understand. There were a lot of things he didn’t understand. The simple fact was, he could take the kids out of the isle but there would always be things they did because it was how they learned to survive.

 

She picked one of the apples that was spared from a poisoning and bit into it, humming slightly as she put the other two in her pockets. It had been so _weird_ humming with no sound. By tomorrow she would have her voice back. Veronica had originally said she’d give it back after three days, but decided to take her up on the week offer. She couldn’t really blame her, being without a voice was slowly driving her crazy and no doubt Veronica was enjoying it.

 

She changed directions, taking the long way back to her room to make sure she missed the other girl while she was still thinking about the offer. As she went down the hall she tripped. Evie looked down to see what she’d tripped on…Veronica’s tome? She best down, inspecting it. The already broken binding had busted a bit more on impact and a few pages were clinging to it, though most were just in the book by virtue of being closed inside of the book. She turned in a slow circle and found that the floor was littered with the ‘should already be dust’ pages. Oh this couldn’t be good. Was Veronica in trouble? Evie shoved the pages into the book and turned in another circle. Veronica was nowhere to be found, but she wouldn’t just leave the book here unattended, not to mention on the ground. What happened? Had she been kidnaped? Isle kids and Auradon kids worked differently with kidnappings. An isle kid would need her for something and besides, her group hadn’t taken Veronica this time.

 

That led to an Aruadonian, someone that might actually want to hurt the other girl. Evie bit her lip, considering. Well the most important thing was to get this book out of the line of sight of anyone that might want to lock it in a museum. With that in mind she turned to speed walk to her room. No doubt that Audrey would run off and complain if _more_ magic entered her space.

 

* * *

 

 

As the two walked towards the lake, they could hear Evie’s voice drifting out. Mal knew it by cadence. Fabien froze in terror before.

        “Oh, Evie must be here on a date with Doug. Let’s go to the other side so we don’t bother them.” At once her trajectory changed so that they were headed to the far side of the lake by the woods. Thankfully, Mal had forgotten about Evie’s repurposed voice. Fabien resisted the urge to sigh in relief as he followed her to the more forested area on the other side of the lake.

        “So” He asked as they walked through the trees, “What is it ya lyke ‘bought this place sa much?” Mal scoffed at him.

        “It’s… _beautiful_ here” Mal admitted. “I mean, just look at the water. And the _food_ ”

        “You wa one o the ones that all’w’s had enough ta eat” Fabien pointed out. Mal nodded.

        “Well yeah but this food _tastes_ so much better!” He snorted. That he could agree with.

        “They don’ have our dishes here thou. No su’pris soup a dry rot, not even the stuff my ma used ta make.”

        “Your mom’s food is fucking ridiculous.” Mal pointed out. “Hell, half the time I wonder how _she_ stays alive eating that. It’s bird food.” Fabien snorted there, she did have a point with that. He was hungry a lot, but he was _also_ one of the kids with access to a lot of food.

        “So i’s clean n tasty. An’y’thin ya miss bought the isle?” Mal, for she had no clue of knowing what he was fishing for answered honestly again.

        “I have a _lot_ of built up energy here. No one just…sings and dances in the middle of the day. I mean” She shrugged “I guess they don’t have to but at the same time. And I’m not allowed to get into any fights I mean…Yeah, I have full access to my magic again and that is _awesome_ but I can’t deny…I _miss_ the feeling of breaking someone’s nose with my fist ya know? Ben recommended cheerleading to get it out but. One; ewww. I mean, Me? A _cheerleader_. Two and most importantly the cheer team is filled with bitches I wanna make bleed. That and three, the main bitch is head cheerleader and I wouldn’t get on. Even if I _wanted_ to.” While speaking to Fabien Mal let some of her ‘preppy happy Aruadonian’ façade fade away to reveal the real girl underneath. Fabien let out another sigh.

        “ _There_ ya are.” At Mal’s offended face he continued. “Ya were actin lyke ya got tran’formed inta some poppy princess.” She snorted.

        “Only around Ben. Promise.” She shook her head. “I can’t step too far out of line or they’ll send me back. Me and all the others.” Fabien nodded. “As long as there’s good food, my allies, and pretty scenery, I’ll stick around.” Another snort. “Well that and Ben of course. I really like him.” Fabien raised an eyebrow.

        “Does he even know ya ta like ya?” He asked at once. Mal’s face darkened.

        “Fabien” She started warningly. At once both his hands went up, the universal symbol of backing off.

        “Jus askin ‘sall” She rolled her eyes, but gave his a light punch on the arm. He smiled through the pain and subtly grabbed the part she’d punched. Not subtle enough apparently

        “Oh my gods you’re such a wimp.” She laughed at him. “How are you not already dead!?”

        “Ah ca’efully date pe’ple tha’ keep me alive eitha by beatin others ‘way or by havin conectians.” It was the complete truth and Mal knew it, after all, she was one of the ones that would beat people away. She didn’t bother to hide the laugh at his expense.

        “You sneaky little slimeball” She hissed, with no real malice in her voice.

        “Chama’ Ahm a _chama,_ jus lahke m’ ol’ man” She shook her head. He on the other hand, had all the information he needed. Friends, food, beauty. They were already working on one of those. Preying on her boredom would be key here. And if she stepped out of line, everyone got sent back. Perfect.

 

* * *

 

 

 Veronica and Ben went back to the dorms after their chat. Despite the fact that his head was spinning, he was a gentleman first and foremost. Plus he needed to make sure that whatever had happened to her didn’t happen again. Who knew what might have happened if he wasn’t around.

        “Really walking me back was unnecessary. I dealt with this on the isle and it really wasn’t a big deal. I just have to…where’s my book?” True, things got hazy when she couldn’t breathe but she wasn’t stupid. She had her spell book, the one with the spell for Evie and it had fallen and now it was _gone._ Talking to Ben hadn’t taken that long. If John had found it he’d have texted right? Unless Geneviève found it. Fabien might have been busy with Mal while she sowed seeds of distrust to make Ben crazy but…If those three didn’t have it who? Carlos? What would he do with it? Or

        “What was that book anyway?”

        “My spell book. It was my mom’s. I need it back it’s one of my prized possessions.”

        “Wait, you mean it’s full of evil spells? I mean, if all of those are spell books they should really be in a museum somewhere where no one can use them for evil purposes. When we find it we can lock it back up and hope no pages are missing.” Ben, as kind and naïve as he was had forgotten one important thing…these children were _villains_. Veronica herself was pretty harmless when it came to fighting, but she did know how to manipulate people.

        “You” She sniffed, eyes welling up with tears. “You _saw_ what just happened. That’s when I overwork myself…in any way. Too much movement, to stressed to… _sad”_ And the tears started falling. “You want to take away one of the only things I have left of my mother” A shaky breath “Oh _gods_. I can’t even...feeling faint” Ben caught the girl as she started to sway.

        “Okay, calm down please, I’ll help you find it. I mean, you aren’t doing any evil with it right? And you’re the only one that can use it. Please stop crying!” She wasn’t an idiot, she had him eating out of the palm of her hand. While she didn’t escalate her sobs, she cuddled into his chest, still choking up as he rubbed her back. Just as he was begging for a savior, one appeared. The kids had all been given phones, it was a pretty good way to distract kids, especially from evil.  

        “Your phone is ringing” She fished it out but didn’t move from sobbing on his chest. He started to look both ways for Mal. They weren’t doing anything but her temper could be…unstable give or take.

        “Hello?” She answered mournfully. There was silence from the other end. “Hello?” she tried again. There was tapping, as if someone was tapping at the receiver itself. Then the sound of pages rustling. She hopped up off of Ben. “Evie found it.” She said by way of explanation and took off down the hall. Ben, for his part, was left there; confused and guilty. Good for him.


End file.
